According to Moily, he enjoys the support of 98 per cent of the Congress workers in Chikkaballapur. “The Congress holds six out of eight Assembly segments in Chikkaballapur. A few days ago, at a meeting convened by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, MLAs again supported my candidature,” the 84-year-old leader said.
Moily represented Chikkaballapur twice - 2009 and 2014 - before tasting defeat against BJP’s BN Bachegowda in 2019. "I lost the third time due to the wrong alliance our party had with the JD(S)," he said.
Moily pointed out that K Sudhakar, the former minister who has been fielded by BJP in Chikkaballapur, faces"negativity, including corruption charges".
Moily is seeking the ticket on the grounds that he never lost touch with Chikkaballapur after losing the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “Raksha Ramaiah came into the picture only after the Assembly elections last year,” Moily said, adding that Raksha and his father, former minister M R Seetharam, wanted to quit Congress at one point in time.
"Then there’s Shivashankar Reddy who has been trying for the ticket only for the last two months," he said, adding "I never went away from the constituency."
Meanwhile, M R Seetharam said that party will field the candidate who has emerged as popular in all the surveys. "I feel my son is a youth force and people want someone like that," he told DH.
The Congress has not announced candidates in three other segments - Kolar, Chamarajanagar and Bellary.
Published 26 March 2024, 17:15 IST
