JOIN USState Congress chief G Parameshwara has written to party president Sonia Gandhi, asking her not to field Muniratna Naidu, BBMP corporator from Yeshwantpur ward, in the Assembly elections.
Naidu, a contractor-turned-corporator, was indicted by the Lokayukta for his role in the death of 17-year-old Sanjana Singh due to a wall collapse in Ganganagar, a few years ago. He had sought the party ticket from the Rajarajeshwarinagar seat. Parameshwara has urged Gandhi not to give the party ticket to Naidu, as he is facing criminal charges.
In his letter dated April 1, which has been made available to the media now, Parameshwara has sought the ticket from Rajarajeshwarinagar to P N Krishnamurthy, who had earlier contested from the same constituency, but lost to the BJP.
“Denial of ticket to Krishnamurthy can pose problems to my poll prospects in Koratagere, as Krishnamurthy, who hails from Koratagere, has a good number of followers there. Krishnamurthy has been active in Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency in the last five years,” Parameshwara stated.
The State Congress president said the Lokayukta investigation against Naidu was pending. Hence, the party’s central election committee should reconsider its recommendation of Naidu’s name for Rajarajeshwarinagar, the letter says.
When questioned about the letter, he said the election committee had sought clarifications regarding some candidates and hence, he had written the letter. Naidu has expressed dissatisfaction over Parameshwara’s move and said certain self-interested groups are trying to deny the ticket to him. “The Ganganagar compound collapse was just an accident and I have no role in it. If there was any serious criminal charge, I wouldn’t have tried for the party ticket,” he said.
In the same letter, Parameshwara has recommended that the party ticket be given to Anjali Nimbalkar, wife of IPS officer Hemanth Nimbalkar, to contest from Khanapur. Rafiq, who has been recommended by the central election committee, has been facing certain charges, the letter said.