Congress leader Prakash Hukkeri’s statement that he would campaign for the BJP if it were to field a member of the Suresh Angadi family in the Lok Sabha bypoll continued to draw reactions in Belagavi on Tuesday.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Satish Jarkiholi asked Mr. Hukkeri to introspect on his stand. “I don’t think it is right for such a senior Congress leader to speak of supporting the BJP,” he added.
He is among the senior most Congress leaders in the State and has enjoyed a series of posts from being a member of the zilla panchayat to Parliament. He should reflect on his statements, Mr. Jarkiholi told journalists.
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He said that it was natural for a political party to witness internal fights. The BJP is not immune to it. “Their internal fights are bigger than ours,” he said.
“His statement has come as a surprise. Let us see; nothing is going to change immediately. I have no idea about what our high command plans to do about it,” he said.
To a question, he said that he would not raise the issue before the party senior leaders, to ask them either to punish Mr. Hukkeri or to favour him.
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Meanwhile, Ramesh Jarkiholi, district in-charge Minister and BJP leader, said that he would want to understand why Mr. Hukkeri made such a statement, before he made any comments on it. “However, at a personal level, he is my good friend. I would not want to politicise the issue,” he said.
To a question, he said that he would not invite Mr. Hukkeri to the party but would leave such decisions to the party high command.
BJP leader and former Minister Umesh Katti said that Mr. Hukkeri should try to build a consensus towards ensuring the election of a BJP candidate from Belagavi, without laying conditions, including a member of the Angadi family getting ticket. Mr. Hukkeri should request the Congress leadership not to contest the Belagavi seat, he said.