As part of his campaigning, B.Y. Raghavendra, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for Shivamogga parliamentary seat, addressed a series of public meetings in Bhadravati Assembly segment on Thursday.
Addressing a public meeting at Akkamahadevi hall in Bhadravati town, he said that if elected he would seek revival of Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant, a public sector undertaking, in Bhadravati. He claimed that owing to his efforts, the decks have been cleared for handing over a 150-acre captive mine for the firm in Ramanadurga range in Ballari district.
Blaming the previous Congress government in the State for the closure of Mysore Paper Mill, another PSU in Bhadravati, he expressed displeasure over the inordinate delay in clearing the dues towards the voluntary retirement scheme announced for workers and the severance package.
Mr. Raghavendra also promised to put in efforts for introduction of a direct train service from Shivamogga to Tirupati, Chennai and Mangaluru. S. Rudre Gowda, MLC, and S. Dattatri, secretary of BJP Raitha Morcha, were present with him.
He offered prayers at Mary Immaculate Church in Bhadravati town. He also addressed election campaign meetings in Padmenahalli and Aralihalli villages.
Additional nominations
Two additional sets of nominations were filed on behalf of Mr. Raghavendra on Thursday.
He had already filed his nomination paper on March 28. On Thursday, the last day of filing nomination, K.B. Ashok, Shivamogga Rural MLA, submitted the additional ones to K.A. Dayanand, Returning Officer and District Election Officer. D.H. Shankaramurthy, former Chairman of State Legislative Council, and R.K. Siddaramanna, former MLC, were present with him.
Independents
S. Umesh Varma and K. Shivalingappa filed nominations as independent candidates on Thursday. With this, as many as 14 candidates have filed their nominations for Shivamogga parliamentary seat.
