The district unit of the Congress has urged the party high command to change its decision and field a candidate from the party in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary seat for the Lok Sabha elections.
The Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary seat has been allotted to Janata Dal (Secular) as per seat arrangements between the Congress and Janata Dal(S) leaders.
In a press release issued here on Thursday, Ashok Kumar Kodavoor, president of the Udupi District Congress Committee, and several other Congress leaders, said that the Janata Dal(S) did not even have elected representatives at the gram panchayat level in Udupi district. The Janata Dal(S) had no organisation worth the name at the block-level.
In contrast, the Congress had workers right at the booth level; it is active at the grassroots level and has an active organisational structure in the district. For example, there was a large number of party workers who participated in the Parivartan Yatre here on March 10.
The Congress had a widespread vote-base in the district. Leaders from the Congress had contested and won in parliamentary elections in the past.
Besides, there was opposition to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shobha Karandlaje, who is seeking re-nomination for the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru seat, in the BJP itself. This would have helped the Congress.
Given this background, the factors were in favour of the Congress in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru seat. Hence, the Congress high command should change its decision and field a Congress candidate from the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru seat, the release said.