The Hindu : Karnataka News : Salian aims to make it six in a row

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 15, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Salian aims to make it six in a row

By Our Staff Correspondent

UDUPI, APRIL 14. The Minister of State for Ports and Fisheries, Vasanth V. Salian, is contesting from the Kaup Assembly Constituency in Udupi district for the sixth time.

He has won five elections in a row from this constituency since 1983.

Mr. Salian defeated the BJP candidate, Lalaji Mendan, in the 1994 and 1999 elections. In the 1999 elections, Mr. Salian polled 31,151 votes while Mr. Mendan bagged 27,653 votes. The victories of Mr. Salian only highlight his sway over the constituents.

Mr. Salian has been Minister twice. He was the Minister of State for Ports and Fisheries in the M. Veerappa Moily Ministry in 1993-94.

One of the key reasons for Mr. Salian's popularity is that he is in regular touch with his voters. The vigour with which he pursues development works in his constituency has stood him in good stead.

He has been instrumental in the construction of vented dams, roads, bridges, health centres, a first grade college at Kaup, a stadium, and a fisheries jetty at Hejmady.

Mr. Salian belongs to the Billava community, which is dominant in the constituency. Bunts, Muslims, Christians, and the Mogaveeras come next. There are 1,13,871 voters in the constituency, 62,764 women and 51,107 men.

Despite his popularity, Mr. Salian is facing some problems. The zilla panchayat member from the Congress, Gladys Almeida, is contesting the election as an independent. However, she is unlikely to pose a serious challenge to Mr. Salian or succeed in scuttling his victory.

The BJP has again fielded Mr. Mendan, a leader of the Mogaveera community, against Mr. Salian.

When Mr. Mendan's candidature was announced, there was some discontent in the BJP camp, but the party succeeded in pacifying the disgruntled leaders.

Mr. Mendan, who enjoys a good image, is a low profile leader.

The Janata Dal (Secular) has fielded M.H. Mohammad, while the Kannada Nadu and the Janata Party have fielded K.M. Gopal and Satish Ballal, respectively.

But they are not expected to make much of an impact. Whether Mr. Salian will romp home this time too or will Mr. Mendan upset the applecart remains to be seen.

<23>Salian has won the past five elections<18>

<23>Number of voters

1.14 lakh<18>

<23>Women outnumber men<18>

<23>Billavas dominate the

constituency

<18>

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka