The Hindu : Clamour for Congress ticket at Aurad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 15, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bidar

Clamour for Congress ticket at Aurad

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIDAR, MARCH 14. Aurad has traditionally favoured candidates from other than the Congress, with the party winning only twice in the eight elections since 1967 when it was declared an independent constituency.

Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli, who was a member of the ministries of S.R. Bommai and J.H. Patel, was voted to power on the Janata Party and Janata Dal ticket from here in 1985, 1989 and 1994. He lost as the Congress candidate in 1999. Some political observers, however, interpret this result as a vote against Mr. Nagamarapalli and not against the party.

Aurad was part of the Santpur reserved constituency in the 1962 elections when Prabhurao Dhondiba of the Congress was elected. Manikrao Shamrao of the Congress won in 1967. Manikrao Patil, who won in 1978 and 1983, was the last to represent the party in the Legislative Assembly from Aurad.

Bapurao Patil, an independent, got elected in 1972, and Gundappa Biradar Vakil won on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket in 1999. Mr. Vakil joined the Congress after being expelled from the BJP on the charge of voting for Vijay Mallya in the Rajya Sabha election.

The BJP seems to be running out of candidates here. Party sources indicate that Chandrashekar Patil, son of the former Home Minister, Manikarao Patil, may join the BJP. He was defeated in some elections on the Congress ticket. He is related to Mallari Gowda Patil, a follower of the former Chief Minister, S. Bangarappa. Basavraj Patil Kollur, who quit the All-India Progressive Janata Dal with other office-bearers of the party and joined the BJP, is also a contender for the party ticket. Mr. Kollur hails from Aurad. There is competition between Mr. Nagamarapalli and Mr. Vakil for the Congress ticket. While Mr. Vakil claims that the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, has promised him the ticket, Mr. Nagamarapalli believes that his proximity to Ministers such as R.V. Deshpande, M. Mallikarjun Kharge and N. Dharam Singh will give him the upper hand. There is also the rumour of his joining the BJP. He has, however, denied it.

Arun Bapurao Patil, who quit the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti to join the Nationalist Congress Party, and Raghunath Jadhav of the Janata Dal (S), both of whom lost the elections in 1999, are expected to contest this time also.

All general-category candidates perceive it as their last chance to win from Aurad as the constituency is expected to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes from the next elections. In the 1991 Census, the Scheduled Castes formed over 27 per cent of the population, which is more than that of the 24 per cent in the reserved constituency of Hulsoor. Mr. Vakil and Mr. Nagamarapalli have a bitter rivalry, and they have criticised each other in public functions and at press conferences. Their followers have clashed even using firearms.

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Clamour for Congress ticket at Aurad