Contesting from Udupi-Ckm as independent to send a message to high command: Cong leader

Udupi, Mar 28: P Amrit Shenoy, member of All India Congress Committee, who is contesting as an Independent candidate in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary constituency, said here on Wednesday that he entered the poll fray to send a message to the Congress high command that it should not take party workers for granted.

Addressing presspersons, Mr. Shenoy said that it was the Congress which was dominant in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary seat. He had approached KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara and impressed upon them the need for retaining the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru seat with the Congress.

But the party had surrendered the seat to the Janata Dal (Secular) without even consulting workers. Pramod Madhwaraj, Congress leader, had met the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and obtained Janata Dal(S) ticket. “Half of Mr. Madhwaraj’s energies will be spent in just popularising the Janata Dal(S) symbol in the constituency,” he said.

Mr. Madhwaraj had met him a couple of days ago here and explained the situation to him. But he and a large number of Congress workers remained unconvinced. “A lot of Congress workers have put pressure on me and urged me to contest,” he said.

More than the development issues, it was religious aspects which played a vital role in the elections. He was a secular person who would take all sections of society together. “The interests of the weaker sections of society should be protected,” he said.

Both the Union and State governments had failed in fulfilling the aspirations of the people. If elected, he would stand up for interests of the common man. “It is shocking that even after four months of a fishing boat from Malpe, with seven fishermen onboard, going missing off the Goa coast, we are not able to trace it,” Mr. Shenoy said.

To a query, he said that he would not withdraw his nomination papers but would resign from the AICC soon. P.V. Bhandary, Yagnesh Acharya, Jayashree Bhat, social activists and supporters of Mr. Shenoy, were present.