GADAG: Irked at sitting Koppal MP Karadi Sanganna not getting a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, his supporters on Thursday vented their ire by pelting the Koppal BJP office with stones, damaging furniture and breaking window panes.
They also raised slogans against former CM B S Yediyurappa and state BJP president B Y Vijayendra apart from chanting ‘Go back Dr K Basavaraj’, who the party selected for the constituency.
A few sources claimed that Deputy CM DK Shivakumar spoke to Sanganna and offered him a Congress ticket from Koppal. However, Sanganna is said to have replied that he will speak to his supporters about this.
For now, Sanganna’s followers have decided to quit the party en masse and stage protests in a big manner to support their leader.
Things took a turn for the worse when BJP MLC Hemalata Nayak came to Sanganna’s house when the latter was holding a press conference. One of the MP’s followers asked her why she had come which made her furious. She shouted at the person and even threatened to hit him with her shoes. A policeman then escorted the follower out of the spot.
The followers said Sanganna has done many developmental works and was one of the main leaders who built the BJP from the grassroots in Koppal.
“I do not know why I was not given a ticket, but I wish good luck to Dr K Basavaraj. No BJP leaders have contacted me, they might be busy and may talk to me once they are free. I request my followers to keep calm,” Sanganna said.