Chitradurga ticket aspirant denied ticket, says Congress will not win

Chitradurga: The Congress announced its second list of candidates on Thursday for the upcoming assembly elections. Raghu Achar, a former MLC from Congress was seen disappointed at the second list as his name was not included.

As a ticket aspirant from Chitradurga, Raghu Achar was not given a ticket to contest from the constituency. In the meanwhile, the Congress ticket for Chitradurga constituency was awarded to K C Veerendra.

Raghu Achar then expressed his ire after he learnt that he was excluded from the second list. Raghu Achar and his supporters vented out at the Congress after learning that Veerendra who is the son-in-law of Kannada actor Doddanna was given a ticket.

Achar said, "I was asked by Siddaramaiah himself to contest from Chitradurga constituency. He told me to contest for an MLA instead of an MLC. I agreed and began preparations."

"But as I was conducting preparations for the upcoming elections, I was grabbed by the neck. I am insignificant to the party now because the votes coming to Congress from my caste in the constituency is inadequate," Achar said.

He also claimed that the Congress ticket aspirant from Tarikere, Gopikrishna who belonged to the Madiwala community has faced a similar situation.

"The Congress will not gain power this time. The party will get a befitting reply from the people of Karnataka," Raghu Achar said.

Earlier, the Congress in Karnataka had advised ticket aspirants against making statements against party decisions. This advisory however, has been over-ruled by the rue of leaders who were excluded in the lists.