Daijiworld Media Network - Dharwad (SP)

Dharwad, Sep 13: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, D K Shivakumar, publicly acknowledged that his party faced reverses in its efforts to rise to power in the Hubballi-Dharwad civic polls, as a number of tickets were issued under the influence of the state level leaders of the party.

He was speaking after inaugurating a felicitation programme for the newly elected corporators here, which was held in the city Congress office. "We issued 'B' forms to candidates under the pressure of some state level leaders. This was our undoing and we tasted defeat because of this mistake. We also lost some seats on account of confusion over issuance of tickets. We will march ahead, without losing our zeal because of this defeat. We will correct our past mistakes and go ahead vigorously," he announced.

Shivakumar pointed out that some corporators who revolted against the party have won and if a proper analysis is made, most of the victorious candidates are the ones who are guided by the Congress ideologies. "We got 36.87 percent of the total votes polled, “he stated.

R V Deshpande, president of the election observation committee of the party, said that the party ruling the state usually has an edge over the others. He expressed happiness at the support voters gave to the Congress which is in the opposition in the assembly. He said that he is sure that if the party workers work hand in hand with the ward level people, the party will come out victorious in the 2023 assembly election.

KPCC working president Dhruvanarayana, Shivananda Patil, MLAs and other leaders were present.