Udupi: ‘My father's sincerity has been rewarded'

Udupi, 23 March 2012: Divya Hegde, daughter of victorious Congress candidate K. Jayaprakash Hegde, was delighted at her father's victory on Wednesday.

“I am very happy at my father's victory so are my mother and brother. My father is a secular and progressive person. I am proud of the fact that my father's sincerity has been rewarded,” Ms. Hegde, who studied M.S. in Marketing and Communications at North Western University, Chicago, U.S., and runs a firm in Bangalore.

Ms. Hegde was always seen in the Congress Bhavan in Udupi after the Congress declared Mr. Hegde's candidature for Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency. Ms. Hegde said that her father's victory had been possible only because of the hard work by party workers.

Even after two successive defeats – in 2008 Assembly election from Kundapur constituency and 2009 from Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituency, her father retained touch with the people of Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency and worked for them. “This has had been rewarded by the people,” she said. Ms. Hegde said that it was essential to strengthen the Congress in the coastal region.

“He should build the cadre and organisation of the Congress in this region. He should strengthen the Congress,” she said. She said that politics had internal and external dimensions. Politics called for hard work. Her father would do all he could for the development of the constituency and for the party, Ms. Hegde said.

Congress candidate K. Jayaprakash Hegde, who emerged victorious in the byelection to the Lok Sabha from Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency, on Wednesday said that he dedicated his victory to party workers and voters. He told presspersons here that he expected to win by a margin of over 50,000 votes. He would take up the problems regarding Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), railways, widening of national highway 66 in the the Lok Sabha.

He would also discuss the problems caused by the thermal plant of Udupi Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL) with the party leaders. He would also look into the special package to be implemented in the naxalite-affected areas. He would seek an inquiry into the delay in the implementation of Varahi Irrigation Project, Mr. Hegde said.

He said even if former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), there would have been no difference in the result, only the margin of victory might have been reduced slightly. This was because voters had made up their mind to vote for the Congress. If the Janata Dal (Secular) had not fielded S.L. Bhoje Gowda, the Congress would have got more votes. This was also a lesson for non-serious candidates including, Mr. Bhoje Gowda, he said.

He would not like to comment on whether this was a setback to Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda as he had vacated the seat. “But it may be a setback for him,” he added as an after-thought. On factors that led to his victory, Mr. Hegde said that people liked him and thought of him as a sincere candidate. “I will attend Parliament regularly and raise issues regarding my constituency and work for its development,” he said.

BJP candidate V. Sunil Kumar said that the result was unexpected. “This is my personal defeat and I will not hold anyone else responsible for it. It had not been possible for me to reach all people in 18 days after announcement of my candidature for the bypoll. This might be the reason for my defeat,” he said. “I will not lose courage due to this defeat and will tour the constituency from tomorrow. We will take the next Assembly and 2014 elections as a challenge and start working,” Mr. Kumar said.

Mr. Bhoje Gowda said that he accepted the people's verdict. The Congress had launched a propaganda that if minorities voted for the JD(S), the BJP would win, hence, the votes of minorities went to the Congress.

- Agencies

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