Udupi, April 17, 2013:
Though the Congress has managed to quell the rebellion in Mangalore and Mangalore north by placating Ivan D Souza and Vijay Kumar Shetty, in Kaup the party is up with a rebellion in the form of Vasanth Salian who eventually joined the JD(S) after Vinay Kumar Sorake was given the B Form. Five- time MLA Vasanth Salian lost no time in jumping to the JD(S) and as a fitting reward to the jumping jack the JD(S) has decided to field him as the party’s candidate from Kaup against Sorake and BJP’s Lalji Mendon.
A strong contender for Kaup ticket along with Sorake, Salian was miffed on denying the ticket and took the next best step of jumping to JD(S). Bangera was the Congress candidate from Kaup in 2004 and 2008 but had lost to BJP’s Lalji Mendon. Both Salian and Sorake belong to the Billva community and the possibility of the community votes splitting between the two cannot be ruled. Even otherwise Kaup is believed to be a safer seat for the BJP. But anything is possible in the electoral battle.
