It was a clear case of slip between the cup and lip for three Congress ticket aspirants. Names of Chowdhary Rangappa, Ravindra Srikantaiah and Ravishankar Shetty appeared in the Congress candidates’ list released on Saturday night. They were jubilant after learning that they got the Congress ticket. But their happy moments were short-lived.
Chowdhary Rangappa, who was announced as the Congress candidate from Turuvekere, came to Bangalore on Monday morning expecting B-form. He had already booked vehicles to carry party followers to Turuvekere on Wednesday, the day he had planned to file his nomination papers. On reaching Bangalore, he was shocked to hear the news that he will no longer be the party candidate. The KPCC President Mallikarjun Kharge called him over phone and informed him that the high command has decided to field actor Jaggesh as the party candidate from Turuvekere.
“I am upset with the party’s decision. The party changed the decision just because an actor (Jaggesh), who stood third in the last elections, made a hue and cry in public. He and his followers garlanded posters of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and S M Krishna with chappals on Sunday. He criticised senior leaders of the party using foul language in public. I am surprised that the party has offered ticket to such a person,” he said.
Loyal worker
Rangappa said he had been serving the party for the last 25 years. He also served as vice president of Tumkur Zilla Panchayat. “Last time Jaggesh got about 28,000 votes only because of committed party workers. This time he will not enjoy the party workers’ support. I will take a decision on my future course of action after consulting my followers,” he said.
Ravindra Srikantaiah, was named Congress candidate from Srirangapatna on Saturday. But on Monday, he too didn’t get the B-form as the party decided to field Union minister Ambareesh from the constituency. Ravindra (37) hails from a family of Congress leaders. His grandfather A G Chunche Gowda was elected to the State Assembly in 1952. His mother Parvathamma Srikantaiah is former MLA from Srirangapatna. His followers burnt crackers in the town when the list was announced. But the party soon changed its decision.
“Yesterday me and my followers were jubilant. Today Ambareesh is in celebration mood. But he will not be in same mood once the elections are over. He is under the impression that Congress party workers in Srirangapatna will support him. But it is not true. He made all efforts to snatch the ticket away from my hands. He will definitely pay a heavy price for that,” he said. Ravindra has plans to contest as rebel Congress candidate. However, he said, he will decided his next move after consulting his followers.
Similarly, Ravishankar Shetty, who joined the Congress recently was declared party’s candidate from Hebbal. The party decided to field former minister H M Revanna in his place.