Mandya Cong candidate is BJP minister’s ex-aide!

By Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: The allotment of the Congress ticket for the MLC polls in Mandya to Dinesh Guligowda, a former special officer of Co-Operation Minister S.T. Somashekar, has created a rift among District Congress leaders. The MLC election is slated to be held on December 10.

Guligowda was working as media manager at the KPCC Office in Bengaluru for many years. For some time, he worked as the Special Officer to Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister, Dr G. Parameshwar when the Congress was in power. After a group of Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) legislators resigned and joined the BJP triggering the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Guligowda became Special Officer to Yesvantpur MLA S.T. Somashekar who was appointed Co-Operation Minister. Since then, he had been working with Somashekar. Last week, Guligowda resigned from his post after Congress leaders confirmed that he was the candidate for Mandya.

Sources told News Trail that there is a lot of resentment among local leaders over giving the ticket to Guligowda who had worked for an MLA who was instrumental in pulling down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. Congress leaders wanted the party to give the ticket to Ramakrishnaiah, a senior leader and former chief of Mandya Milk Producers Union.

It is said that Guligowda requested Somashekar to talk with former CM and senior BJP leader, S.M.Krishna and convince KPCC President D.K.Shivakumar on the ticket allotment.Since Krishna was the political mentor of D.K. Shivakumar, the latter reportedly spoke to Congress leaders in Mandya, N.Cheluvarayaswamy and P.M. Narendraswamy and requested them to work for Guligowda’s victory. With the diktat coming from the party chief, the senior leaders have to no option but to work for him.