Rebel activity has erupted in Congress party in Kodagu, after the announcement of list of candidates for the upcoming elections.
Leader Napanda Muttappa, Somwarpet block Congress President K M Lokesh and ZP member K P Chandrakala are among the disappointed party members.
Napanda Muttappa was actively involved in party work the last two years. He was also a part of the Indian National Trade Union Congress. He had conducted several campaigns to win the hearts of people in Madikeri and Somwarpet. But, missing the ticket has made him a rebel.
Booth-level support
Muttappa’s supporter T M Amid said that there are 65,000 members in the INTUC and 15,000 booth-level members of the Congress who are with Muttappa. “Also, people of Madikeri have shown a positive response towards Muttappa. If the party had already decided on to whom the ticket will be served, what was the need to conduct the opinion poll,” he asked.
Leader Aravi Ajjalli alleged that some leaders from Congress party have seen to it that Napanda Muttappa does not get the ticket, only to benefit the BJP candidate. “The person who is not active in the party is served with a ticket to contest from Madikeri,” he criticised.
Napanda Muttappa has written on a social networking site that he will file nomination as an independent candidate at 12 noon on April 20.
He has also expressed his discomfiture against Congress candidate Chandramouli. “The person who is contesting from Congress will lose his deposit. K J George is asking for revenge on Congress in Kodagu. The district in-charge minister will fall into his own trench. The video and audio recordings of the Congress leaders who demanded crores of rupees for ticket will be released soon,” he stated in another post.
The Congress has also faced rebel politics in Virajpet.
There were many aspirants from Virajpet, including district in-charge minister M R Seetharam’s close aide Harish Bopanna and AICC spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa. But, in a surprising move, the ticket has been given to former MLC C S Arun Machaiah.
Brijesh has reportedly expressed his disappointment for not being given the ticket, while M R Seetharam has also faced a setback. In addition, the minister is said to have been on not very good terms with Arun Machaiah.
It is worth mentioning that rebellions had played a huge role in the defeat of B T Pradeep from the Congress in the 2013 elections.
There lies a big challenge ahead of senior leaders of the Congress to pacify the rebellions in Kodagu Congress so that the 2013 incident does not repeat.
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