Doctor Turned Politician Anjali Nimbalkar To Contest From Uttara Kannada

Dr. Anjali Nimbalkar is a senior leader and spokesperson of the Congress. She has been nominated as an Congress candidate from Uttara Kannada to fight the 18th Lok Sabha elections. The constituency is going to see elections on May 7 in phase 3.

An MBBS and MD by education and Gynaecologist by profession, she is one of the 10 doctors elected to the Karnataka state assembly. She works as a medical officer in primary health centers and also as an associate professor at Bengaluru’s Dr. Ambedkar Medical College. Reportedly, she had conducted many seminars on school girls’ menstrual hygiene in her constituency in the past. In 2018, Nimbalkar defeated BJP candidate Vithal Halagekar from Khanapur, Karnataka Assembly constituency however was defeated by the same candidate in the 2023 assembly elections.

She has been critical of the Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and favored that the money should be spent on the poor instead of a hike in the salaries of MLAs.

For her election campaign, Nimbalkar chose to wear a saffron sari and headgear, and other leaders and party workers were also seen with saffron headgear. This is considered a stunt to break Hindutava votes in the state. Targeting her attire a BJP leader in Uttar Kannada said, ‘She has taken the color on lease from us till the elections are over. It’s not going to make any impact on the public,’.

There are 8 assembly segments of the Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2023 elections, 5 seats were held by INC candidates and 3 by BJP candidates. Since 2004, Anantkumar Hegde the BJP candidate has been winning the general elections here. The BJP’s vote share was significantly high at 68.15 percent and JD(S) came second with 26.56 percent.

The parliamentary seat is a general category seat with a literacy rate of 72.43 percent. The Muslim, SC, and ST populations here is 12.58%, 9.1%, and 3.35% respectively.