Karnataka - Bidar   

Denial of ticket to ex-Minister may spell trouble for Congress

BIDAR: The denial of Congress ticket to the former Minister Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli is likely to land the Congress party in trouble in the Bidar and Aurad Assembly constituencies.

Mr. Nagamarapalli will be contesting the Bidar seat for the first time, but he has won four times from the Aurad segment which is a reserved constituency now.

He is yet to decide whether he will be contesting as an independent or will join some other party.

The performance of the Congress in Bidar district was dismal in 2004; it lost five of the six Assembly seats.

Mr. Nagamarapalli was the only candidate to win from Aurad.

Sources close to him said: “Chairmanship of the Naranja Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane Limited, Bidar, and the District Central Cooperative Bank, may help Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli to influence voters in Bidar and Aurad constituencies.”

The inclusion of 25 villages, which fall under the Janawada Circle, in the Bidar Assembly Constituency has come as a blessing for Mr. Nagamarapalli because the Naranja Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane is located in Janawada Circle.

In Aurad, Mr. Nagamarapalli may play a key role in ensuring the success of any candidate since he had won from there four times — in 1985, 1989, 1994 and 2004. He lost the elections in in 1999, but he is said to have a large number of followers in the constituency.

Mr. Nagamarapalli left the Janata Dal (Secular) and joined the Congress in 1999

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