Karnataka - Bellary   

Diwakar Babu to boycott Janandolana programme

BELLARY: The former Minister M. Diwakar Babu and his followers have decided to boycott the Janandolana programme to be held in Hospet on Sunday. This has further strengthened rumours of dissension within the Congress in the district.

Speaking to presspersons here on Saturday, Mr. Babu said a non-functional district party unit and lack of initiative by district party president Abdul Wahab in organising the public meeting in Hospet, in which several senior party leaders such as M. Mallikarjun Kharge, N. Dharam Singh and H.K. Patil were to participate had forced them to decide to boycott the programme. He also charged Mr. Wahab with ignoring party workers in Bellary.

He said the party had suffered a severe jolt in the elections to urban local bodies in Bellary, and he had submitted a report to the district party president detailing the reasons for the defeat. “Instead of being proactive and working on the report, Mr. Wahab did not even bother to forward the report to the party high command,” he said. Mr. Babu also said that senior party leaders needed to be apprised of the situation immediately, which would help in the formulation of better strategies. “The Janandolana programme should have been held in Bellary, the district headquarters, or in any of the taluks where the party suffered a massive defeat. Holding it in Hospet is meaningless,” he said.

In reply to a question, Mr. Babu said he was keen on ensuring that the party staged a comeback.

He emphasised the need for the party leadership to allow only competent candidates to contest the polls. On reports that the former Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash was likely to join the Congress, he said the party should welcome all those intending to join it, but should allow only viable candidates to contest the polls.

Earlier, at a meeting convened by him to elicit the opinion of his followers on whether to participate in the Janandolana programme, most of them expressed anguish that he was being ignored by the district party leaders. While a few of them wanted to boycott the meeting in Hospet, others were not in favour of a boycott. Some others, however, felt that a delegation should be sent to Bangalore to apprise State party leaders.

Former presidents of the Bellary City Municipal Council P. Siddanna and B. Kumaraswamy were present.

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