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Aim is to defeat Congress: JD(S)

Special Correspondent

Ullal byelection: we will not play the community card, say Congress leaders

IN THE FRAY: Janata Dal (S) candidate Aboobackar Natekal filing his nomination for the Ullal Assembly constituency byelection, in Mangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: R. Eswarraj

MANGALORE: The Janata Dal (Secular) has clarified that the decision to field a candidate for the Ullal byelection was taken by the party in an effort to sustain its presence in Dakshina Kananda district.

General secretary of the party's State unit Y.S.V. Dutta told presspersons here on Tuesday that the decision to field a Muslim candidate was part of a strategy to defeat the Congress in the byelection. Mr. Dutta was here to witness the filing of nomination by party candidate Aboobackar Natekal.

He said the party's decision to contest the Ullal byelection should not be seen as the result of a rift with its coalition partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party, but as an indication of the independent political identity of the party.

Meanwhile, senior leaders of Congress have said that any party harbouring the notion that it will win Ullal byelection on community lines will be in for a surprise.

President of the district unit of Congress Blasius M. D'Souza told presspersons here on Tuesday that India was following a secular democratic system and there was no place for community to play any role in electioneering.

Some parties were playing the community card, he said and added that those parties would face the consequence in this byelection.

Reiterating Mr. D'Souza's statement, former Transport Minister Sageer Ahmed said Congress did not believe in dividing the voters into convenient groups based on religion, community and language. Janata Dal (S) was trying to engineer a split in the votes on the basis of religion, Mr. Ahmed charged.

Congress would fight the byelection on democratic basis and would put forth the failures of the BJP-Janata Dal (S) on reaching the social benefits to the masses, Mr. Ahmed said.

Support

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will support Congress in Ullal byelection, according to a press release from secretary of the State unit of IUML C. Ahmed Jamaal.

In a meeting between Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahmed, Union Minister of State for Labour Oscar Fernandes, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge and president of the State unit of IUML Ahmad Mehdi it was decided that the IUML would not field any candidate for the byelection and would support Congress candidate, Mr. Jamaal said.

It had also been agreed that Congress would tie up with the IUML in the forthcoming civic body elections by giving three seats in Ullal Nagar Panchayat, four in Bantwal Municipal Council and one seat in Mangalore City Corporation to the IUML, the release said.

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