Dharwad: Apart from accommodating sitting MLAs, Congress has decided to give a chance to fresh faces to try and win the seats that the party had lost in previous assembly elections.
Mohemmed Ismail Tamatgar, who had contested the previous two elections as Janata Dal (S) nominee has now been given a ticket by Congress for the Hubballi-Dharwad West constituency. He will face sitting BJP MLA Arvind Bellad. Sources said
Tamatgar Congress was accommodated following pressure from national level Muslim leaders.
In the 2008 assembly election, Tamatgar had secured 14,200 (13.07 per cent) votes to emerge third in the race. BJP’s Chandrakant Bellad had won the election.
In 2013, Tamatgar had got 30,312 votes (23.9 per cent), just 509 votes less than
Congress candidate and former minister S R Morey who was second. Bellad had emerged victorious after securing 42,003 (33.1 per cent) votes.
Following differences with local JD(S) leaders, Tamatgar had joined Congress in 2014-2015. Senior corporator Deepak Chinchore and former minister S R Morey were other contenders for the ticket.
“A delegation of national level leaders from Muslim community had met AICC president Rahul Gandhi and demanded that 18 seats be given to Muslims. The Congress had already prepared a list which had 13 Muslims and it was forced to include five more names and choose Ismail for Hubballi-Dharwad West,” a senior Congress leader from New Delhi who did not wish to be named said.
Speaking to TOI from New Delhi, Tamatgar said that all the leaders in the party in the constituency had supported his candidature and expressed confidence that he would justify his selection.
Dr Mahesh Nalwad, who had contested against BJP’s Jagadish Shettar in 2013 and lost has again been given the ticket to contest from Hubballi-Dharwad Central.
Young businessman Vinod Asuti will be Congress candidate for Navalgund constituency and he is a new face. Former minister K N Gaddi, Lohit Naiker, Vijay Kulkarni and ZP vice president Shivanand Karigar were the other contenders. Asuti belongs to Kuruba community and is said to be close to chief minister Siddaramaiah’s family.
Sitting MLAs Vinay Kulkarni (Dharwad), Prasad Abbayya (H-D East(Reserve)), Santosh Lad (Kalghatagi), C S Shivalli (Kundgol) have been re-nominated to contest from their respective constituencies.
