Holalkere MLA M. Chandrappa of the BJP and his son Raghuchandan, who was an aspirant for the BJP ticket to contest for the Chitradurga Lok Sabha seat, held a meeting with their supporters on Thursday. The father-son duo is upset after the party chose to field the former Minister Govind Karjol in Chitradurga.
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Mr. Chandrappa, speaking to the press after the meeting, said he would take a decision on fielding his son as an Independent candidate after consulting his leaders. “We are thinking of filing his nomination papers on April 3. I need to consult some leaders. Later, we will announce our final decision,” he said.
Mr. Raghuchandan questioned the logic behind fielding Mr. Karjol, who suffered a defeat in Mudhol in the last Assembly polls. “In what way is he connected with Chitradurga? Does he know anything about Chitradurga? We will not work for his election,” he said. Mr. Raghuchandan said his final decision on contesting would depend on the BJP’s decision since they have requested the party to reconsider the candidature.
He said the former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had assured him of an opportunity to contest for the Lok Sabha. “I have been working with people in the constituency for the last five years. We appealed to the party not to ignore Bovi, a large community in the State,” he said.
Senior leaders of the BJP and the Sangha Parivar have contacted both the father and the son over the phone and tried to convince them.