The Hindu : Karnataka News : New faces to try their luck in elections from Chitradurga

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Tuesday, Mar 31, 2009
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Karnataka

New faces to try their luck in elections from Chitradurga

Staff Correspondent

A police official and a businessman are lobbying for ticket

Timmappa, the police official, has knocked on BJP’s doors but to not avail
Shashishekhar Naik, the businessman, is said to be trying for Praja Rajyam ticket

Chitradurga: As the dates for the elections to the Lok Sabha approach, several new faces are trying to enter the corridors of power.

One such aspirant, V. Timmappa, announced his desire to contest the elections as an independent candidate from Chitradurga constituency, now reserved for the Scheduled Castes.

At a press conference here on Sunday, he said he first knocked on the doors of the Bharatiya Janata Party. “I was one of the strong contenders for BJP ticket, but for some reason the party did not choose me,” he said. The BJP has chosen Janardhanswamy, a software engineer, as its candidate.

Retirement

It is learnt that Mr. Timmappa, who was serving as Deputy Commissioner of Police in Bangalore, and took voluntary retirement to contest the polls, had met leaders of various parties seeking nomination.

He made it clear that he was ready to contest from any party if given ticket. “In case no party offers me a chance, I will have to go it alone,” he said.

Asked what made him enter politics, he claimed the people of his community had urged him to take the plunge.

He also claimed that some local elected representatives were supporting him.

Interestingly, Holalkere MLA M. Chandrappa of the BJP and independent MLA for Hosadurga and Minister Gulihatti Shekhar are said to have opposed the candidature of Mr. Janardhanswamy. They were said to have lobbied for Mr. Timmappa with the party leaders, sources said. When asked, Mr. Timmappa declined to comment and said he would not divulge the names of leaders who were supporting him. While he has almost decided to contest the polls as an independent, Shashishekhar Naik, a businessman, is also trying to enter the fray. He is reported to have tried for a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket, but the party has decided to field M. Ratnakar, son of former Minister D. Manjunath.

Mr. Naik, for the past few days, has been issuing advertisements in local newspapers here announcing his intention to contest the polls. It is also learnt that he is seeking ticket from actor Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam party.

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