Tanveer Sait to take call on whether or not to contest in Karnataka polls

BENGALURU: Expressing his unwillingness to contest the ensuing Assembly polls, Congress MLA and former minister Tanveer Sait on Tuesday disclosed that he would take a final call on contesting the ensuing Assembly polls in a day or two after discussions with party leaders and cited ‘ill health’ as reason for him to decide not to contest in the polls.

Tanveer Sait represents Narasimharaja (NR) Assembly seat in Mysuru city and remains undefeated since 2002 bypoll. Earlier, his father Azeez Sait represented the NR Seat.

It may be recalled that Tanveer Sait came under attack in November, 2019 at a function in Mysuru when he was attacked with a sharp weapon by a person identified as Farhan Pasha. In the attack on him, Sait suffered a deep injury in his neck. Stating about his health condition, Tanveer Sait said “I have not completely recovered from the injury yet.”

Addressing media in Mysuru, he said “I had kept the decision of backing out of the ensuing Assembly polls a secret from December before disclosing it today. Both CLP leader (Siddaramaiah) and KPCC chief (D.K. Shivakumar) had asked me not to disclose about his decision (in public).”

Tanveer Sait confirmed that had sought for the ticket but made it clear that he would remain in the Congress party until he remained in active politics and said "the party leaders are in constant touch with me after I made my decision public (on Tuesday)."