Congress, BJP confident of winning the seat

TNN

UDUPI, 20 March 2012: A day after polling, both Congress and BJP have started number crunching. While BJP expects to win the seat by a lead of at least 40,000, Congress is looking at doubling the number as the margin of victory.Congress candidate Jayaprakash Hegde was confident that the overall lead in the two districts would be over 30,000 each, taking the combined lead to 70,000. "Though my own party people say we have a lead of 50,000 in the four assembly segments of Chikmagalur district, I expect it to be a modest 30,000. This is because minorities have consolidated and voted for us. Also Lingayats in Tarikere and Chikmagalur due to Yeddyurappa factor have voted for the Congress," he said.

 

 

"The minority vote consolidation can also be attributed to the fact that there was a realization among the voters that JD(S) will not win. As an after effect, the JD(S) Vokkaliga votes too have shifted to us," he added. In Udupi district, Hegde said the major supporters of BJP - Konkanis and Brahmins - had voted for the Congress as they were disappointed by the scams-scarred BJP government and the Porngate incident. "The BJP supporters, who did not want to vote for Congress, did not come out for polling," he added.When TOI asked about his defeat in 2009, he said, "In 2009, it was a direct fight between the parties. This time, Brahmins in Sringeri have told me that they have voted for me. This is the result of the rapport I had with the electorate even though I lost in the last poll," Hegde said.Meanwhile, BJP candidate Sunill Kumar was also confident. "We don’t have any doubts about the win. The margin should be about 40,000," he said. In 2009, D V Sadananda Gowda had won with a margin of 27,000.

 

"This time the polling percentage is good and also there is a conducive atmosphere for BJP," he said. He admitted that the low polling percentage in Tarikere may be attributed to the Yeddyurappa factor. On the role of JD(S), Kumar said, "We don’t expect any gains because of JD(S). In the two days leading to the voting, they had become ineffective and were seen with the Congress."