No dissent in Congress, will work together: Saleem Ahmed

Hubballi: Saleem Ahmed (in pic), Congress candidate for the MLC election from Dharwad local bodies, has rubbished all talk of differences in the party over tickets.
Whatever the differences regarding tickets, its only up to the ticket finalisation. Once a party announces a candidate, everybody must abide by the party, he said. "There are no differences now. All are one and united in the party. We will work together for the Congress party," Ahmed said.
He said there was a demand for a ticket to a Muslim candidate. Also, there was a demand for a ticket specifically for Haveri or Gadag this time. The party, after considering office-bearers' opinions, finalised the names, Ahmed said.
The Congress leader attempted to counter criticism that the party had fielded an outsider by giving him a ticket for Dharwad. "I am not an outsider, but a voter from Haveri district for over 25 years. During my tenure of 12 years as an MLC, I adopted Haveri as the nodal district and spent funds for the overall development of the district. The people are aware of all my development work."
Ahmed said that the BJP-led state government had intentionally delayed elections for Taluk and Zilla Panchayats, fearing loss and this was weakening public institutions. People are fed up with the administration. Hence all have made up their mind to vote against the BJP and elect a Congress party candidate, he added.
Meetings of the MLAs, MLCs, defeated candidates and other leaders of the Congress will be held in Haveri, Gadag and Dharwad, respectively. After discussing the campaigning programmes, the campaigning will start with meetings with voters.