The president of Hebri Block Congress in Udupi district and one of the aspirants for the Congress ticket from Karkala Assembly constituency Manjunath Poojary alleged on Sunday that money has been paid for issuing each ticket in the Congress and the members in the screening committee were the beneficiaries of that money as they have got ₹2 crore each.
Addressing presspersons in Udupi, Mr. Poojary, who was also a former member of Udupi Zilla Panchayat, alleged that a senior Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leader followed a system of selling party tickets to whoever strikes a deal with him by paying a lumpsum for a ticket.
Mr. Poojary said that he will quit as the president of Hebri Block Congress but will continue in the party.
Expressing displeasure over the Congress fielding contractor Muniyal Uday Kumar Shetty from Karkala for the May 10 election, he questioned the grounds on which the selection was made.
‘‘In the 2018 Assembly election, Mr. Shetty had asked his followers and supporters to vote in favour of the BJP as he had not got the ticket from the Congress then. Mr. Shetty never raised his voice against the Energy Minister and BJP’s incumbent MLA from Karkala V. Sunil Kumar,” he alleged.
Mr. Poojary claimed that Mr. Shetty was also found roaming with the State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel, RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat and V. Sunil Kumar.
The Congress may not win even one seat in Udupi district in the coming election, he said.
