Siddu heaps praise on Cong MLA’s wife & Bagalkote LS ticket hopeful

NT Correspondent

Bagalkote: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday heaped praise on Congress MLA from Hungund Vijayanand Kashappanavar and his wife Veena for their social work.

Notably, Veena is an aspirant for the Congress ticket from Bagalkote Lok Sabha seat.

She had contested from the same seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and lost to BJP’s PC Gaddigoudar by more than 1,68,000 votes but was considered a strong candidate at a time when Congress had been reduced to a single seat out of a possible 28 in Karnataka.

Notably, the Kashappanavar couple are Panchamasali Lingayats, a community concentrated in the KitturKarnataka region, which included Bagalkote district.

The CM made the comments during the inauguration of the Veena Kashappanavar Foundation-run training centre and academy which gave free tuition to Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) and Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) aspirants of poor background.

Noting that the Kashappanavar couple was “paying a debt to society”, he said that Veena had a “good future politically”.

“The Veena Kashappanavar Foundation has come to the aid of rural children who want to pass the KAS and PSI exams. They are starting with 200 aspirants but will help 1,500 students every year,” Siddaramaiah said.

“Let your blessings be with them,” he added. Notably, back in October Vijayanand Kashappanavar had expressed the wish that Deputy CM DK Shivakumar be promoted to the CM’s post in the future.