The Hindu : Bangarappa has everyone guessing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 16, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Bangarappa has everyone guessing

By Pramod Mellegatti

SHIMOGA, FEB. 15. The former Chief Minister and member of the just dissolved Lok Sabha S. Bangarappa, has kept people guessing about his next move after reportedly expressing his disinterest in seeking re-election to Parliament.

According to sources, Mr. Bangarappa has not made a request to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for party ticket.

He is among the three Congress' members in the dissolved House from the State who are not reported to have given an application to the KPCC in this regard.

The others are Ambarish (Mandya) and G. Puttaswamy Gowda (Hassan).

Mr. Bangarappa does not seem to have come out of his "dilemma" on whether to seek re-election to the Lok Sabha or return to the Legislative Assembly.

In view of this, the pre-election scenario in Shimoga district is hazy as Mr. Bangarappa's moves are important not only to the Congress but also to others.

It is not known whether Mr. Bangarappa would prefer to seek election to the Assembly from his old constituency of Sorab which he represented since 1967 without a break before vacating it in favour of his son, Kumar Bangarappa, Minister of State for Town Municipal Councils and Administration. A new dimension has been added with the former KPCC General Secretary, Ismail Khan, who is the Chairman of the Karnataka State Forest Industries Development Corporation, seeking party ticket for the Shimoga Lok Sabha seat.

Meanwhile, the BJP is having a problem in finding a candidate for the Lok Sabha seat.

The loss of Ayanur Manjunath, who left the BJP to join the Janata Party, is being keenly felt. Mr. Manjunath is now the Working President of the State unit of the Janata Party.

There are reports that Mr. Manjunath, who was hailed as a "giant killer" when he defeated Mr. Bangarappa in the 1998 parliamentary election, might be a consensus candidate of the National Democratic Alliance if the talks between leaders of the Janata Party and the NDA on a poll tie-up end on a positive note.

The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and the Working President of the Janata Party, Vijay Mallya, have already held talks on a poll tie-up, and according to Janata Party sources an understanding between them is likely after a final decision on the merger of the All-India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD) with the Janata Party is completed.

On the other hand, the Janata Dal (Secular) in the district is in disarray.

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