He Did Great Developmental Work for the City, But Sadly J R Lobo Got BETRAYED by…..?
Mangaluru: It came as a shock for many citizens of Mangaluru, including the Assembly Election candidate J R Lobo, when the results were announced that Lobo had lost to his opponent by a margin of a large number of votes. How come his opponent, a newcomer into politics, could be so popular to win such a large number of votes, was the question many asked. Some even said that community people which Lobo belongs to must have abstained from voting or might have cast their votes to his opponent. That could be possible – when a person named Judas betrayed Jesus Christ, similarly in this case, a bunch of ” Judas’ ” might have BETRAYED MLA J R Lobo. Oh well.
Some even say that J R Lobo’s involvement in Light House Hill Rd/St Aloysius College Road issue might have lost the votes of the Bunt community. That could be possible too. Also, with J R Lobo losing with such a large margin of votes against a first time candidate, many people blame it on the hacking of EVMs. That could be possible too. But whatever the reasons are, a popular and much loved MLA of Mangaluru, J R Lobo didn’t deserve to lose like this – which is not just a shock, but kind of very hurtful to Lobo and also his followers.
So what went wrong, for Congress to face such a miserable defeat in Mangaluru and Udupi? According to a senior journalist of Mangaluru, who had quoted his views in a national daily newspaper, he said that it could be revenge or polarization, where BJP had come back and swept the entire coast, bagging 16 out of 19 seats in DK, Udupi and Uttara Kannada. In 2013, BJP had won only three seats out of 19 in these districts. Also according to a Professor at Mangaluru University, “It was polarization against Congress’ divisive policies which helped the BJP. New voters are now against division of people on the basis of caste and community. These are the days of competition, which has made young voters follow the ideas of PM Modi, who speaks of one India, irrespective of caste, religion, regional feelings and linguistic issues. So this has made the young voters to vote for BJP.” Could this be True or False?
Another reason is that communal polarization has also worked on the coast to a great extent. The coast is known as the Hindutva laboratory, whether or not the anti-Modi rhetoric by Congress campaigners has hurt the majority community, they attacked Modi as a person too many times and did not have the capacity to question his policies. The overtly community directed appeasement policies of the Congress did great damage to the party, feel academics. That also could be possible.
On the other hand, yet another Head of a Political Science department at University of Mysuru had said, “It was not communal polarization that wrecked the chances of the Congress, but caste polarization in the coast. Just like the Lingayats, Brahmins, Vokkaligas and SCs in the rest of the state, the Coast has seen three major castes – the Bunts, Billavas and Brahmins [3Bs] – polarizing to a common cause, a tame affair compared to religious polarization. Voters on the coast are far more organized in thoughts and action, which is why the BJP has swept the coast entirely”. That also could be possible.
But whatever the reasons are, Congress in this coastal region never expected such a big defeat. With all the developmental works taken up by the Congress MLAs, including J R Lobo, they thought it would help them retain the seats. Unfortunately, it worked the other way, giving the opponents a win in the battle. It also showed how BJP candidates reflected a consolidation of votes cutting across caste and religion affiliations. Many of the BJP candidates who won in this assembly elections, some of them first timers, have admitted and said that it was a stunning mandate that they acknowledged as “Unexpected”? So how did BJP get such a large majority of votes? Who will give the real answer to these questions? Oh well- something went wrong somewhere!
On 10 May 2018, MLA J R Lobo prior to the election date on 12 May 2018, had mentioned in his website stating, “Namasthe, my dear Mangalurean brothers and sisters, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude for placing your trust in me as your elected People’s representative of Mangaluru South Constituency for the past five years. I joined politics to give back to our city through public service. I had a dream and a vision for the peace and development of Mangaluru and prosperity of all Mangalureans.”
“With your unceasing support, we were able to initiate and complete numerous projects ranging from continuous water supply, better roads, housing for the poor, upgrading of local markets, underground drainage systems, efficient solid waste management, Pilikula Nisargadhama Project, development of tourism, trade and industry, etc. Several other IT initiatives are at various stages of approval and execution. You gave me the support, ideas, and encouragement to beautify this Mangaluru South Constituency of ours.”
“Being your MLA has been the greatest honour of my life. On 12th May, 2018 you will decide whether you will give me an opportunity to serve you with renewed energy. A lot of miles to go and promises to keep for which we need to work shoulder to shoulder. I request you to vote for action and results, and not politics of hatred and divisiveness. Help me to fulfill my dream to make our Mangaluru a ‘Smarter City’ for the next generation. I promise you to uphold the ‘Dharma’ of our Constitution of motherland India. Karnatakada Hemme, Congress Mathomme! Jai Hind! Jai Karnataka!”. Seems like J R Lobo’s message didn’t convince the voters to exercise their franchise in favor of him.
But unfortunately, on 15 May 2018, when the election results were announced, J R Lobo’s dreams were completely shattered when he lost big time against his BJP opponent by a huge margin of votes. So once again, as a true gentleman and sincere politician, Lobo in his website had conveyed this message:
“Hello everyone. The past few days have been a difficult journey for me, as would be for many of you who have been my support since the last 5 years. A loss is never easy to accept, but it forces every one of us to take pause and think about our actions – past, present and future. The last assembly elections in 2013 gave the Congress and myself a mandate from the people who were unhappy with the state of things in our beloved Mangaluru City. Of those who have been following my work since then, you would know of the deep love and attachment I have for our great city.”
“My vision of putting Mangaluru on the Global map in terms of quality of living, safety, development, and job opportunities has progressed well since the past years. Unfortunately, in the current 2018 assembly elections the Congress Party did not attain the required majority to continue giving me the opportunity to bring to life the vision of a better Mangaluru. While this has come as a shock to most of us, we have to remember that change is inevitable in life. The important thing is to keep hope alive – hope for a better future worth leaving to our children. I am eternally grateful to you, Mangaluruens – young and old, rich and poor, people of all communities – for having given me an opportunity to serve you as your MLA in the past five years. Let us keep our heads high and the hope alive for an even better tomorrow.”
“I wish Vedavyasa Kamath the very best for the next five years, and hope that he works to serve the people of Mangaluru with the same, if not more, love and compassion as I put into my service in the past years. To the people of Mangaluru – I will continue working towards my vision of a Globally esteemed Mangaluru, in whatever capacity possible for the future. I would like to thank all my supporters, direct and indirect, the Indian National Congress party workers who have tirelessly worked alongside me to serve the people, and you, the people, who make all of the efforts worthwhile. Thank you once again for coming out in large numbers to vote for me. Love one another as you love your own family, as Mangaluru continues to surge forward as one family that cannot be separated by anything.”
Well said by MLA J R Lobo expressing his emotions and also thanking everyone for standing by him during the last few years. In sports, winning is not so important, but participation is a must and very important. Similarly, even though J R Lobo didn’t win and lost the privilege to serve the citizens of Mangaluru as their MLA or leader once again, we all should appreciate all the great developmental works that he did during his short tenure, with Dedication, Sincerity, Commitment and Sacrifice. He was no doubt a Great and Hard Working MLA that Mangaluru had seen in decades and it is very much doubtful that Managaluru will see an MLA like J R Lobo. Thank You, J R Lobo Sir, Your contribution to the City and Community is very much appreciated. May God bless you!
The late T A Pai was defeated by an unknown rickshaw driver union president who went on to become one of the Cong I stalwarts. Yes we are talking about Oscaranna. Did Pai deserve to lose his deposit against Fernandes? His own bank staff, KMC staff voted for Oscar. They were actually voting for Indiramma.
Yeddy was unfortunate to miss the majority mark. BJP lost at least 20 seats for small margins. Even if they had won 10 of them, Yeddy would have continued. Now he should focus on preparing for Lok Sabha elections due next year. He would do well to project a reliable youner person as the next leader. I feel sorry for Mr Lobo who would have become a minister if he had won.
I am surprised that such an erudite writer like Alfie has left out a major point. There are many other points too but I will stick to only two or three points: Tippu Jayanthi, making fun of cow-protection and Superstition (Prohibition of) Act.
Congress celebrated ‘Jayanthi’ of Tippu. First of all, there is no concept of Jayanthi in Islam. Don’t know who had started this but Congress acted as if their life depended on it. Siddaramaiah dd this only to teach Hindus. Now he will merrily continue with the help of JDS. That is another matter.
But why did this affect Lobo? This should never be a question but point of introspection. Christians were one of the worst affected by Tippu. Yet Lobo said nothing about it and supported the Jayanthi of the perpetrator who tortured his own ancestors. Many might not have voted him for this reason. The question is who really is Judas here.
Second: Cow-protection. No matter what the arguments are for or aginst ban of cow-slaughter, the cow is definitely dear to Hindus. Again a lot of people may question this notion itself. Let them. but Hindus have answered them by votes. All that was required was to show the willingness to stop the illegal slaughter. Too little was done – that too by Honest police officers. MLA showed absolutely no interest about this point. A lot of Hindus who had voted him last time would have silently turned away.
Third: Anti-superstition act. Most people have their own beliefs. As long as one person’s belief does not hurt others, there should not be any restrictions. I too don’t find Made Snana, ede Snana etc as rational. But a lot of people believe in it. When they are doing it on their own will with no-pressure from others, restricting it by enacting a law is enacting a law acting against their beliefs. Instead of such laws, encouragement should have been given about the ills of such practices. Instead of health-issues and irrationality of such issues, it was painted as if it was a caste issue. While erudite scholars may have strong arguments, for a simple mind and heart seeing is believing. They would have seen that even the upper caste people roll over the leaves. So it would make no sense to call it a caste-issue. The best course of action in such cases is to educate and not legislate.
I know there will be hundreds of arguments and counter-arguments (One reason I stopped commenting on Mangalorean is these endless arguments which led no-where). But people have spoken and it is up to the leaders of the party to take it and act.
Rather than going to temples as a soft-Hindutva, if Congress had even shown even slightest of regards to the feelings of a large section of their followers, they would not have lost the votes. Now that they have the ‘Surrender-power’, they can still do the right things and get the real power.
Sincerity in this world does not work as the Educated lot fall for false speeches and fake statements from the national leaders. Majority of Mangaloreans were of the opinion that they are a literate lot and would not fall for artificial talks. Even we have fallen blind and were not able to see the development generated by JR Lobo, Madhwaraj and the likes. They are punished for being good to the people. Our community people are truly lazy and have abstained from voting. I know a few families who took that week end for picnics and refused to vote. As to why such a vote difference? only the EC can tell.
hah..we vote based on Sunday or Friday meeting and only to our own community candidate ….how dare other majority community also vote in the same line and for their own community? that is the highlight of the article..
is this not true that Kerala students belong to minority section are not registered in Mangalore voting …which college helped them and who is the beneficiary if they get voting id etc etc..every one know..
if development and work are critiria..then no one will vote single vote for Rahul Gandhi and his party candidates..
If he had dropped the pretence and kept the same no-nonsense and serious personality which he had 5 years ago, probably the outcome would have been different today. This mollycoddling to ‘special interest’ groups only backfired. And there was no stopping when Modi got inside the ring 2 weeks prior to the polling day.
Even though congress is partly in power today, there is absolutely nothing to be proud of their achievements in the recent elections. They will be only looked down upon by the appa-maga party in every aspect though mandate is double the size of JDS. The power lies with the king and Kumaranna is on the throne. Everyone else is just a subordinate. Look at the humiliation. How long can it go on?
My bet is, we will enter into another assembly election soon, probably during the same time as parliamentary elections. This coalition simply won’t work. BJP will only emerge stronger.
Different people give different reasons for the loss or Victory. It is not easy to understand Voter’s mind and what he/she decides. Every candidate has to aim for the every vote, then he will win.
I spoke to few people and every one gave different reasons.
1. Mr Lobo participating in Tippu Jayanti Celebrations did not go well with many Catholics. Even though Tippu’s atrocities like torture/captivity/forceful conversion happened more than 200 years ago, the harm/damage/violence was much more than the right wing sponsored Chritian Worship Place attacks 10 years ago.
2. I don’t know how much canvassing was done with Catholic community by the Congress party?. Educated people do not vote/support a candidate just because they speak your language or follows your religion. Did Congress party think that ” we will get all catholic Votes, no matter what” ? Did Mr Lobo put any efforts to reach out to them? Many Catholics did not wanted to vote RSS supported candidate and abstained from voting.
3. Significant number of Jeppu Catholics did not vote Mr Lobo. He did attend a meeting with them and showed inclination to solve the issues and had promised to bring both parties to the table and negotiate a settlement.
4. Congress government/ Home Minister Dr Param could have done more in Mr Baliga’s murder investigation . Many people thought there is no difference between both parties in providing Justice.
5. There were few photos were circulating in Media. Mr Lobo, Mr Rai, Mr Fernandes chatting/laughing together with Mr Kateel. There is nothing wrong in elected representatives meeting/laughing/travelling together. The caption on one of the photo was” nama poora onje, janakulu manganakulu”(We all politicians are one, people are fools).
6. Some people accuse that Mr Lobo took credit for the work he did not do.
7. It was alleged that Mr Lobo had close proximity to a catholic lawyer who is not popular with many Catholics.
Overall Mr Lobo is a gentleman, experienced, knowledgeable, hard working and non corrupt. Politics is not every ones cup of tea. He put his heart and soul for the development of the City. He is 65 years old. May be he can use his time with his family/travel. He has worked very hard as a government official and as a MLA. He needs rest and relaxation. I wish him good health, peace and happiness.
i will surely vote for bjp. first learn to respect the majority religion. dont make fun.of our customs.
JR Lobo betrayed his very own people both Hindus and Christians who voted for him by joining in the celebration of “TIPU JAYANTHI“. This man and many other Congress leaders whose ancestors were raped and murdered by this demon king, but they celebrated the mass murderers birthday and that too using tax payers money. If they so badly wanted to celebrate then they should have used their own money and declaring the day a public holiday is a travesty of justice.
Lobo also made a speech celebrating the occasion which was nothing short of slap in face, linking a bible story to the celebration of this butchers birthday to Mary Magdelene and Jesus. Thus he and the rest of the congress gang proved themselves untrustworthy, and when they came this time begging for votes, the people replied justly and made the right choice by getting rid of these opportunist
In sincerely hope that going forward there will be no more celebrations on the birthday of man who in many peoples eyes has gone down into the dustbin of Indian history.
Brillant write up alfie