The Congress on Wednesday chose S. Raju Poojary, former president of Udupi Zilla Panchayat and a director of South Canara District Central Cooperative (SCDCC) Bank, as its candidate for Karnataka Legislative Council byelection from Dakshina Kannada Local Authorities constituency scheduled for October 21.
AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal in a communique said Congress president M. Mallikarjun Kharge approved the name of Mr. Poojary. KPPC working president and MLC Manjunath Bhandary recently stated that the party would field a candidate from Udupi district for the byelections. Mr. Bhandary from Dakshina Kannada district is one of the two MLCs representing the DK dual constituency. October 3 is the last date to file nomination papers.
Born in 1966, Raju Poojary began his social and political service as a member of Maravanthe Gram Panchayat in Udupi district and went on to become a member of Kundapura Taluk Panchayat and later Udupi Zilla Panchayat. A commerce graduate, he was the president of Udupi ZP from 2008 to 2011. As the president of Maravanthe-Badakere Vyavasaya Seva Sahakari Sangha for the last 25 years, Mr. Poojary was elected as a director of SCDCC Bank.
The cooperative veteran founded Sriram Sauharda Credit Cooperative Ltd., headquartered at Byndoor and having branches in parts of Byndoor taluk. He is also active in the religious field and is the president of Koti Chennayya Panjurli Garadi at Byndoor.
A staunch Congressman from the beginning, Mr. Poojary began his political career as an office-bearer of the National Students Union of India in 1997 and presently, the vice-president of Udupi District Congress Committee.
The byelection is caused by the resignation of Kota Srinivas Poojary, who got elected as the MP of Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency in the 2024 elections to the Lok Sabha.
Published - October 02, 2024 09:33 pm IST
