BENGALURU: On the last day of filing of nominations for the bypolls to 15 constituencies, candidates of all three big parties went in massive processions to file their papers. While senior leaders, including Union and state ministers, accompanied the BJP candidates, many senior Congress leaders stayed away from nomination process.
Former KPCC president G Parameshwara, former Union ministers K H Muniyappa and Veerappa Moily, and former Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy stayed away from the nomination process. Congress leaders Siddaramaiah, Dinesh Gundu Rao, D K Shivakumar and Krishna Byregowda among others accompanied their party candidates. Even in social media, a few Congress leaders are not talking about the bypolls. Parameshwara’s twitter handle does not mention anything about the bypolls. For the last one week, he has tweeted about Jayanthi or Punyathiti. Except Shivajinagar and Chikkaballapura, not many candidates from the Congress got the support of their party leaders while filing nominations on the last day.
Congress sources said many leaders have lost hope even before election. “At present there is a dearth of leaders after 14 of our leaders jumped to the BJP. Except for KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao, D K Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah, we do not have a mass leader,’’ sources said.
A senior Congress leader said there was an “issue of unity” in the Congress. “ The BJP too has it. But they obey their top brass. We do not have that discipline here which will affect us in the election. Leaders like Parameshwara should have jumped in by this time. But he is not in the picture,’’ he said.
Dinesh Gundu Rao was seen at various places on Monday, including Shivajinagar and Mahalakshmi Layout. He said, “Our senior leaders will join during campaigning. By Tuesday, we will prepare the time table after discussion with our leaders,’’ he said.
