Daijiworld Media Network - Shimoga (SP)

Shimoga, Jan 25: While Karnataka Pradesh Congress president R V Deshpande claimed in a Congress workers meeting in Shimoga on Friday January 23 that there is no opposition to the re-entry of Bangrappa into the Congress fold and that the Congress and the Samajwadi Party which have an understanding at the national level are not averse to his en masse defection along with the entire party unit of Samajwadi Party of which he is the state president to the Congress, everything does not seem so hunky-dory, after all.

Many have aired their displeasure at Bangarappa's claim that he is the Loksabha candidate from the Congress for the next Loksabha election. The party is yet to finalize the names of its candidates for the Loksabha election. Bangarappa's elder son Kumar Bangarappa who is with the Congress now, said that Bangrappa's claim has the potential of both confusing and weakening the party network here. Speaking at the district convention of the Congress workers on Friday, he said he wants the party leaders to get opinion of all the party workers before coming to a conclusion and that it was not necessary to promise a seat in advance to somebody just to accommodate them in the party.

One of the party leaders Ismail Khan also stoutly opposed Bangarappa's entry into the party, saying that the party should not open its doors to every one who comes in by putting forth his own terms and conditions. He pointed out that senior leader Kagodu Timmappa had suffered badly because of the upmanship of Bangrappa in the past. “Whenever Bangarappa has entered the party, the party has suffered because of his arrogant attitude,” he said.