80% of Congress workers want D.K. Suresh to contest Channapatna bypolls: D.K. Shivakumar

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Monday claimed that over 80% of the Congress workers want his brother and former MP D.K. Suresh to contest the bypolls to the Channapatna Assembly constituency, which would be held on November 13.

“I have made it clear to the party workers that they will have to work for the candidate chosen by the high command. We have not even come out of the big defeat in Bengaluru Rural constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” he said.

When pointed out that the Channapatna constituency gave a large lead to the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections, the KPCC chief said: “Mr. Suresh worked very hard for the Lok Sabha elections. We are confident of getting our candidate elected in the byelection too.”

Responding to Union Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy’s allegation that BJP MLC C.P. Yogeshwar, who resigned from the Council on Monday, was in touch with Congress leaders, Mr. Shivakumar said that “the politics of JD(S) party workers is different from the politics of Mr. Kumaraswamy”, hinting that the party workers may not necessarily back the party’s decisions.

Speaking to reporters, he said: “I have neither met Mr. Yogeshwar nor have spoken to him. I gave him the due respect that needs to be given to an MLC at the Independence Day function at Channapatna. Other than that, there has been no interaction between us.”

Asked if Mr. Yogeshwar would be in a helpless situation if denied ticket from the NDA, he said: “I don’t want to comment on the internal matter of the NDA.”

Replying to a query about his meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about the byelections, Mr. Shivakumar said: “We discussed with the Ministers and collected their opinion. We also discussed the list of candidates with the election in-charge. We will send the list to Delhi for a final decision.”

Published - October 21, 2024 07:30 pm IST