BENGALURU: Mansoor Khan, who was AICC secretary in charge of Telangana and contesting from the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency this time, is expected to make the contest tough for sitting and three-time MP PC Mohan. But Congress sources said some party leaders are not fully dedicated to ensuring his victory.
Though five of the eight Assembly segments in the constituency are represented by Congress MLAs, the big question is whether all of them are extending their support to him. Sources said that some local leaders fear that Mansoor Khan, who is former Rajya Sabha member and deputy chairman Rehman Khan’s son, could tower over them if elected and they just don’t want that.
They are now putting in efforts to ensure that he loses, the sources added. Asked if this disunity and alleged machinations behind the screen will prove costly for Congress, KPCC working president MLC Saleem Ahmed said, “It is not true that Congress is disunited. We will work for greater unity.” The constituency, which was carved after the delimitation exercise in 2008, has never seen a Congress MP.
It has lost all the three previous elections. In 2009, it was defeated by 35,000 votes, in 2014 by 1.37 lakh votes and in 2019 71,000 votes. Asked about constituencies like Gandhinagar and Rajajinagar where Congress votes during the previous election had come down by 20-25,000 votes and in Mahadevpura and CV Raman Nagar by 30,000 -50,000 votes, Saleem Ahmed said they are working closely with party workers and leaders in these areas to ensure bigger support for Mansoor Khan.
Asked about the alleged attempts by Congress leaders to stab him in the back in this election, Mansoor Khan said, “It is not true. These are just rumours. We are all united and we will remain united.’’ Asked about his unique selling proposition, or USP, in this election, Khan said he will work for the people and development.
On what he would ask PC Mohan if there is a debate between the two, Khan said he would question the sitting MP about the works done in the constituency in the last 15 years. “I will ask if the MP raised the question in Parliament about drought that has affected people of Karnataka,” he added. Replying to these points, PC Mohan told TNIE, “In the first term in 2009, we went to the people speaking about Congress’ corruption and in 2014 and 2019, we talked about PM Modi’s development agenda.
We have worked to bring the suburban rail network at a cost of Rs 18,600 crore. I have worked tirelessly to get necessary permissions for Namma Metro and its different phases of expansion. I have worked to get housing for the poor in slums under the PM Awas Yojana and loans for vendors and students and many more programmes.”