Veteran Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary inaugurates party election office in Mangaluru

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee President Harish Kumar on Tuesday said that the campaign of Congress candidate began today after veteran Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary inaugurated the election office and offering puja at Kudroli Gokarnanatha Temple

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Working President Manjunath Bhandari said that Padmaraj R who is the Congress candidate from Dakshina Kannada(DK) Lok Sabha constituency will file his nominations on April 3. Meanwhile, the Udupi-Chikmagaluru constituency candidate Jayaprakash Hegde will file his nomination on April 2.

“We all will work for the victory of both the candidates in DK and Udupi districts. We are all united to work for strengthening the party, to ensure that our candidates win the election. Dakshina Kannada has not seen a Congress MP for the last 33 years,” he told reporters.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar will also campaign in Dakshina Kannada for the party's candidate and district- level campaign convention will be held at Puttur.

“The Congress has begun preparations for the Lok Sabha election soon after the assembly elections. Block level office-bearers were appointed. Booth level agents too have been imparted training under the leadership of former MLC Ivan D’Souza. The AICC Chief has elected Ramanath Rai as the KPCC in charge of DK Lok Sabha constituency” he said.

Victory with 70,000 margin

To a query on BJP claiming to win with a margin of three lakh votes, Harish Kumar said “the BJP is already divided. We are confident of the Congress candidate winning with a margin of 50,000 to 70,000 votes.”

Guarantee schemes will help

Ramanath Rai said “party workers had demanded a new face to contest the election. Accordingly, Congress has fielded Padmaraj. We all have a responsibility to ensure his victory and bring back the glory of the past. Our party workers are strong. Guarantee schemes will help the party to win the election. Though BJP had promised several guarantees, it has not been fulfilled for the last 10 years," he alleged.