Congress faces revolt in Kundgol, ticket aspirant angry with Siddaramaiah
Forest minister Satish Jarkiholi had a tough time pacifying him and his supporters who shouted slogans against party leaders.
Hubballi: The Congress is facing a revolt within the party after the ticket for the Kundgol Assembly seat was allotted to Kusuma, widow of deceased leader and former minister C.S. Shivalli just a day before the last day for filing the nomination papers on Monday.
A ticket aspirant, Shivanand Benthur has publicly expressed his anger against former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah for not fielding him in the by-election.
Forest minister Satish Jarkiholi had a tough time pacifying him and his supporters who shouted slogans against party leaders.
The minister maintained that some ticket aspirants have expressed displeasure adding that it was common in any party when more people want to contest the elections.
Terming the decision to field Kusuma Shivalli in Kundgol as one-sided, Shivanand Benthur, who is the husband of a Gudageri Zilla Panchayat member, alleged that the party had been unfair in denying him the ticket.
“Our deceased leader C.S. Shivalli served as legislator for 15 years and also became minister. I too worked hard to strengthen the party for 23 years along with Shivalli in Kundagol taluk. I will contest as an independent as I am very upset with party leaders for not giving me the ticket”, Shivanand Benthur said.
Admitting that there are problems in the Kundagol unit of the Congress party, minister Satish Jarkiholi said that it will be resolved in the presence of party leaders Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar and others on Monday when they arrive here to accompany Kusuma Shivalli when she files her nomination.
Meanwhile, a tense situation prevailed when supporters of Benthur engaged in a verbal clash with the minister after the meeting convened by him.
“We have the capacity to resolve the rift. We will work unitedly for the victory of the Congress candidate. The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders will never succeed in their attempt to topple the coalition government. We will win the election based on the pro-poor schemes of the previous Siddaramaiah government and the failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Satish Jarkiholi said.