HUBBALLI: Former Lok Sabha member, Manjunath Kunnur, is likely to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Dharwad as an independent after the Congress denied him the ticket.
While the Congress has fielded Vinod Asuti, Union Minister and incumbent MP from Dharwad, Pralhad Joshi, is the BJP candidate.
Kunnur, who in the past has been both with the Congress and the BJP, is known to switch sides whenever the ticket is denied to him. Kunnur, who had been in political hibernation since 2009, actually saw an opportunity to return to active politics during the 2023 Assembly polls and joined the Congress. He wanted to contest from the Shiggaon segment, but the party denied him the chance. In fact, Kunnur is the last Congressman to have won Shiggaon way back in 1994.
When the Congress denied a ticket to Kunnur in 2004, he joined the BJP, got a chance to contest from the Dharwad South Lok Sabha segment, and got elected. It was the first time the saffron party had won the seat, thanks to the Vajpayee wave. However, his exit from the BJP was imminent, as he voted in favour of the Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008, violating the party’s whip. Then he was accused of allegedly crossing voting for monetary gain. He, however, refuted the allegations and said that, being a responsible citizen of the country, he went along with the nuclear deal as per his conscience and considering the benefits of the deal.
Later, Kunnur rejoined the Congress, and the latter fielded him from the Dharwad LS segment against Pralhad Joshi in the 2009 General Elections. He, however, tasted defeat. As the party did not consider him for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he again joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 LS polls. Since he did not get any good attention from the party, he returned to Congress just before the 2023 Assembly polls.
Kunnur defends his act of switching sides often, that too ahead of any election. He said that when he felt the party, in which he was, did not treat him fairly, and whenever his pride got hurt, he switched sides. This apart, if the parties taking their stand on pro-people issues were against his conscience, he openly revolted and stood along with the people’s interests, Kunnur added.
On going as a rebel against the Congress, Kunnur said that since the Lingayats are the dominant community in the Dharwad segment, it was expected of the party to field a candidate from the community. Since he belonged to the influential Panchamsali sect of the community, he was hoping to get a chance, but the party neglected the community. So, he was thinking of contesting as an independent, and a decision in this regard would taken in a couple of days, he added.