BENGALURU: Although the rally attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at CV Raman Nagar constituency was for ‘laying foundation stone for developmental works’, the facade did not last long as the issue of who would be the Congress candidate from the constituency took centre stage.
While Siddaramaiah confirmed the candidature of Public Works Department Minister H C Mahadevappa, Congress dissenters from the constituency came out vocally against the hints provided by Siddaramaiah.
Prelude
The presence of Mahadevappa at the venue was an indication of his possible candidature. He was the only leader apart from Siddaramaiah not hailing from Bengaluru to be present on the dias. Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, during his furious volley against people ‘maligning Bengaluru’s image’, had acknowledged the ‘invisible hands’ of people like Mahadevappa in Bengaluru’s development.
Siddaramaiah, at the fag end of his speech, asked the gathering on who the next candidate from the constituency should be. “I haven’t come here to announce a candidate. We will give ticket to whomever you say,” he said, amidst shouts of “Mahadevappa, Mahadevappa” from a group of youth.
While Siddaramaiah was talking, a couple of leaders had already garlanded Mahadevappa, who was seated on the stage, as if the CM had declared him the Congress candidate from the constituency.
“I will take into account the name you have suggested. We will give ticket to whoever you say,” Siddaramaiah added.
Dissent
The spot survey by Siddaramaiah, however, did not go well with two Congress hopefuls from the constituency. The ticket aspirants from the constituency are P Ramesh and M Srinivas. Ramesh, who had contested unsuccessfully for the Congress ticket in the last elections, said he was a ticket aspirant this time too.
Refusing to read much into Siddaramaiah’s remarks, he said the party high command was the final authority to give tickets.
“I have worked for the party for many years. I am also a ticket aspirant from CV Raman Nagar. We will wait for the high command to take a decision,” he said.
Mahadevappa, who currently represents T Narsipur constituency in Mysuru, is expected to take the poll plunge in Bengaluru in the upcoming Assembly elections. Congress seat for T Narsipur constituency is expected to land on his son, Sunil Bose’s lap.
DEVELOPMENT WORKS LAUNCHED
During the programme in CV Raman Nagar constituency, foundation stone was laid for 129 projects worth `127.38 crore, and several projects worth `58.31 crore were inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah