Summary:
MANGALURU: There is no respite for political parties from elections. Hailing Congress leadership for announcing his candidature in advance, Dinesh said this helped his campaigning activity to a large extent.The six sitting members retiring on June 21 necessitating the elections are Ramesh Babu (Southeast teachers) Marithibbe Gowda (South teachers), Ganesh Karnik (Southwest teachers) D H Shankara Murthy (Southwest graduates), Ramachandra Gowda (Bangalore graduates) and Amarnath Patil (Northeast graduates). Even as the dust from the May 12 verdict for the state assembly is yet to settle, parties are girding up their loins for the biennial polls to three teachers' and as many graduates' constituencies to the legislative council that will be held on June 8. With notification issued on May 15, Monday proved to be a hectic day for candidates, who were busy filing their nominations, a day before the last date.With scrutiny scheduled for May 23 and last date for withdrawal on May 25, candidates have to hit the ground running. Unlike the assembly polls where the candidates had to focus on just one constituency, a candidate contesting for South-West teachers and graduates constituency respectively has to tackle voters spread across five districts - DK, Udupi, Shivamogga, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Honnalli and Channagiri taluks in Davanagere districts.Admitting that the task is tough, Ganesh Karnik BJP candidate for SW teacher's constituency said that for a cadre-based party such as BJP, reaching out to the stakeholders is not a big issue..