It was a keenly followed constituency where church attacks, moral policing and Sri Ram Sene activism were expected to wean voters away from the BJP.

But Dakshina Kannada or Mangalore went the saffron way with novice Nalin Kumar Kateel (42) humbling Congress veteran Janardhan Poojary by 40,420 votes.

Kateel, best known for his work as a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) worker and fiery speeches, was pushed into the fray at the insistence of a key RSS leader in Karnataka.

Few believed he stood a chance against Poojary, a three-time MP, given the church attacks in September 2008 and the pub attack in January 2009.

When nearly 72 per cent of voters turned out to vote in the region — in keeping with the trend that Mangalore had maintained over the past 15 years — it was evident that there was no impact on the voting percentage on account of those incidents.

There were, however, doubts if the minority votes could bring Kateel down since minorities had turned out in large numbers at the polling booths.

The key to Kateel’s victory is believed to be the Sangh Parivar’s network that established deep roots in Mangalore. While Poojary was often a forlorn face walking alone house to house, across villages in the district, Kateel had hundreds of RSS workers reaching out to Hindu homes seeking votes for the leader on the ground that their interests would be compromised if any party other than the BJP was elected.

... contd.