Narsimharaja/MYSORE:
As soon as the elections were declared, many thought that Bantwal will witness a straight fight between the BJP and the Congress. However, the entry of the SDPI, the JD(S) and the KJP has become a “headache” for both the BJP and the Congress, perhaps more to the Congress.
Setting its sights high in this election, SDPI entered into a pre-poll alliance with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party-BSP and has fielded 24 candidates.
Grey BOX [Even as the city Congress workers celebrated the victory of the party returning to power in the State on Thursday, the slow and steady growth of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has become a cause for worry for the grand old party.]
SDPI State Chief K H Abdul Majeed finished second in the Assembly Elections at Narasimharaja constituency, mostly populated by minorities, making it a bitter sweet victory for sitting MLA Tanveer Sait. Majeed pulled 29,667 votes against Sait’s 38,037 votes. JD(S) finished third here. SDPI, which had already made its presence felt in the recent ULB elections, posed a serious threat to Tanveer in the assembly election. It doesn’t come as a surprise for SDPI emerging the major contender as it has already caught notice of the voters by winning 2 of the 13 wards it contested in the recently held elections to Mysore City Corporation (MCC). Those wards again fall under NR constituency. Barring ward 37, where the party stood in fourth place, in majority of the remaining wards it contested, the party finished either second or third.
SDPI which contested the Karnataka assembly election for the first time in this election has surprised political party leaders in Mysore, especially Congress candidate Tanveer Sait, as it polled heavily and stood second. Though it was believed that the SDPI candidate would make Tanveer’s way to victory a bit difficult, political pundits didn’t expect him to overtake JD(S) and BJP.
Seeking to underline his party’s secular credentials, he pointed to the alliance the SDPI formed with the Bahujan Samaj Party in the Assembly elections. He said that at the national level, the party shares a good equation with the Janata Dal (United) as well as the Lok Janshakti Party led by Ram Vilas Paswan.
“In the urban local body elections, of the 17 victorious SDPI candidates, six were non-Muslims. In the Mysore City Corporation, three of the four SDPI members are non-Muslims,” he said.
The Party polled more than one lakh votes in 24 Assembly segments in the recently concluded elections. Majeed Kodlipete’s performance has proved the party’s growing popularity in the region.