Congress candidate Padmaraj R. Poojary lost the Lok Sabha election in the Dakshina Kannada seat, but he remained positive, citing the party’s increased vote share. Addressing media personnel, Poojary announced his intention to focus on strengthening the party at the booth level in the district over the next one-and-a-half years.
Poojary secured 6,14,924 votes (43.43%), a significant increase from the 4,99,664 votes (37.14%) obtained by the Congress candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He expressed confidence that the Congress could further improve its vote share in the 2024 elections, despite the challenging conditions faced by the party.
Congratulating BJP’s winning candidate, Captain Brijesh Chowta, Poojary urged him to prioritize the restoration of social and communal harmony in the district, as well as focusing on development projects. He pledged his support to Chowta’s efforts to promote communal harmony.
Poojary acknowledged that the Congress faced a defeat in the constituency, but he took moral responsibility for the outcome. He emphasized the importance of learning from the BJP’s organizational strategies and reaching out to every family member politically.
Former Congress minister B. Ramanath Rai asserted that the Congress had achieved a moral victory in the constituency, despite losing the seat. He claimed that the BJP had suffered a moral loss. Rai highlighted the success of the State Government’s guarantee schemes, which he believes have benefited the people economically, particularly the poor.
