Bantwal Constituency: Will it be Rai v/s Naik for the thrid time!?

Team Udayavani, Mar 15, 2023, 10:39 AM IST

In the Bantwal Constituency, the election fever is rising as the state prepares for the upcoming Assembly polls. The two major parties, BJP and Congress, are gearing up for a direct contest.

Present MLA Rajesh Naik is almost certain to contest from the BJP, while former minister B. Ramanath Rai is expected to represent Congress.

As of now, only Rajesh Naik’s name has been confirmed as the BJP candidate as there have been no other aspirants from the BJP. On the other hand, when the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) invited applications from ticket aspirants, Rai, along with Rakesh Malli and senior advocate Ashwini Kumar Rai, filed an application.

Though several people have applied for the Congress ticket, Rai seems to be the front-runner.

Initially, the names of Billava leader Padmaraj and former MCC mayor Kavita Sanil were heard from the Congress, but they have been sidelined in favor of B. Ramanath Rai.

Rai is currently traveling throughout the constituency, organizing the party, and gaining support.

Meanwhile, Ilyas Thumbe is also campaigning as an SDPI candidate. CPI has also decided to field its candidate this time in Bantwala, however, the name of the candidate is yet to be finalized. JDS and other parties have not yet decided whether to field their candidates in Bantwal.

Like any other constituency in Bantwal too, the candidature of other parties cannot be ignored, as their vote share may impact the results. Ultimately, it will come down to whose hands voters place their ballots in.

If Congress and BJP finalize Rai and Naik’s names, this will be the third contest between them. In the past, Ramanatha Rai won in 2013, while Rajesh Naik won in 2018.

This will be Rajesh Naik’s third election and Ramanath Rai’s ninth. Rai had won six out of the eight elections he contested in the past and lost twice.

While BJP expresses confidence that it will emerge victorious, Congress promises that if Ramanath Rai contests, he will give tough competition to BJP and win.

With the election fever rising, the people of Bantwala await the election outcome with bated breath.