JOIN USCongress president Sonia Gandhi has put senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes in charge of the Udupi-Chikamagalur byelection hustings.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Congress has given him the overall charge of the election, while State Congress president G Parameshwara, former ministers Jaffer Sharief and C M Ibrahim, and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah have been appointed the main speakers.
The other in-charge leaders are – H K Patil and H Vishwanath – Udupi; R V Deshpande and Motamma – Kundapur; K Rehman Khan – Kaup; M Veerappa Moily – Karkala; B Janardhan Poojary – Mudigere; S M Krishna – Chikmagalur; Mallikarjun Kharge – Sringeri; K H Muniyappa and D K Shivakumar – Tarikere.
JD(S) will contest
The JD(S), which had opted out of the 2009 Udupi-Chikamagalur MP elections and extended support to CPI, is seriously contemplating entering the fray this time around.
On Friday, Chikmagalur district JD(S) working president Bhoje Gowda’s name started doing the rounds as the likely candidate for the election.
The party is, however, yet to formally announce the candidate, which is likely to happen on February 26.
Names of JD(S) youth president Madhu Bangarappa, Chikmagalur district unit president H H Devaraj and a relatively recent entrant Mahendra Kumar, have also been doing the rounds.