Rahul Gandhi may contest from Kerala’s Wayanad, not from Karnataka

News Network
March 23, 2019

Wayanad, Mar 23: Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad parliamentary constituency. The State Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran today announced that Gandhi has agreed to contest from Wayanad, the party’s bastion in Kerala that borders Karnataka.

“Talks were on about this for almost a month. Initially, he (Rahul Gandhi) was not willing. After much persuasion, he agreed” Ramachandran told media persons.

Congress leaders from down South have been persistently inviting Gandhi to contest from their respective states. While Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao asked Gandhi to contest from his state, the Kerala Congress too had been trying to gauge Gandhi’s poll strategy in a bid to have him contest from the Wayanad constituency.

Gandhi was expected to choose from Bangalore Central, Bidar and Mysuru from Karnataka, Kanniyakumari and Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu, and Wayanad in Kerala, apart from Uttar Pradesh.

Wayanad constituency was carved out in 2008 during the restructuring of constituencies from Kannur, Malappuram and Wayanad constituencies. Congress leader ML Shahnawaz had won the last two elections. He died six months ago after a brief illness.

T Siddiqu, a former Youth Congress president, who had been named as the party’s candidate has already bowed out of the race. At a media briefing in Kozhikode to announce his withdrawal from the election, Siddiqu described his candidature and exit under these circumstances as “an honour for me and the state”.

Congress leaders argue that Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest election from a southern state would impact the morale of party workers across the region, particularly in Kerala and Karnataka. Tamil Nadu Congress chief KS Alagiri, who wanted Gandhi to contest from his state, had predicted that the Congress president would be seen as a leader “connecting the north and south” if he contests from a southern state.

Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother Indira Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi have also contested Lok Sabha elections from the south. Both of them had, however, stuck to Karnataka.

Indira Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha by-elections from Chikmagalur in 1978, and won, a victory that revived her political chances. Two years later, she swept back to power in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, with the Congress winning 353 seats. However, in 1980, Indira Gandhi represented Rae Bareli.

Following the footsteps of her mother-in-law, soon after joining politics, Sonia Gandhi contested the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from two seats – Bellary in Karnataka and Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. She defeated BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj from Bellary and Sanjay Singh from Amethi. She chose to represent Amethi and gave up Bellary.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Madikeri, Apr 27: Four labourers, who were travelling to Kerala via Makutta on foot, were stopped by Karnataka Forest Department officials and handed over to police.

Police said on Monday that the labourers identified as Anish, Radhakrishna, Shrinil and Prabhakar, who were working in the Coffee plantations in Chembellur and Ontiyangadi. As the roads to Kerala were sealed following lockdown, they were held up in the district.

The forest guards, who spotted them walking through the forest area, brought them back to the town as per the directions of the higher officials last evening. DCF Shivashankar, ACF Konerira Roshni and Ranger Arun Kumar were present.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
July 23,2020

Mangaluru, July 23: Lavanya Ballal, national co-coordinator for social media department of Indian National Congress, has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of destroying the nation by misleading the youth.

In an interview with a regional Kannada news paper, the Dakshina Kannada based activist, lamented that instead of using social media for the welfare of the nation, BJP leaders used it to spread lies for their political gains. 

On one hand BJP fooled people through false promises and colourful dialogues, while on the other hand it misled crores of youth by spreading fake news, twisted facts and false information, she said.

Ms Ballal went on to accuse BJP of following the footsteps of the British. “BJP is following all the methods employed by the British invaders to divide the people of India and make them hate each other,” she said.

She said that Congress always used the social media for the benefit of the country. If the new generation realises this fact, the country will once again turn its direction towards development, she asserted.

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coastaldigest.com news network
February 18,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 18: Within days after Kambala racer Srinivasa Gowda emerged a national hero, another Kambala racer Nishant Shetty has grabbed headlines. 

Nishant Shetty from Bajagoli Jogibettu reportedly broke Gowda’s record at the Venoor Kambala on Sunday. Shetty recorded 143m in 13.68 seconds. If calculated for 100m he clocks it in 9.51 seconds. His speed is faster than Gowda who clocked 9.55 seconds.

According to Kambala organisers, with Shetty’s feat, four participants have joined the elite club of racers who have completed the 100 metres in less than ten seconds.

They are Iruvathur Anand (9.57 secs), Akkeri Suresh Shetty (9.57 secs), Srinivas Gowda (9.55 secs) and Nishant Shetty (9.51 secs). Anand and Suresh Shetty had participated in the same Venoor Kambala where Nishant emerged first.

Kambala is an annual race held in Karnataka where people sprint 143m through paddy fields with the buffaloes. During the race, the racers try to bring the buffaloes under control by holding their reins tight and beating them, making it amply clear that the animal plays an equally important role in achieving the timing. Traditionally, it is sponsored by local Tuluva landlords and households in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

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