Karnataka Elections 2018: Why Mangaluru will see stiff BJP-Congress contest

The region's socio-economic development and politics is an outcome of a rapid change that began in the 1970s, with land reforms creating space for backward castes to claim new identities

Of all the regions in Karnataka, the most interesting possibly is its coastal region, dominated by Mangalore, or Mangaluru as it is now called. The region’s socio-economic development and politics is an outcome of telescoped rapid change. Mangalore is a city of the beautiful and rich – both Aishwarya Rai and Suniel Shetty belong to this city – home to many educational institutions, and a burgeoning middle class. But the very poor – bidi rollers, fishermen, weavers and wage labourers and backward communities – also live here.

A change in social and economic equations began in the 1970s, with land