S.R. Patil fails to make it to Congress list for Council polls
The Hindu
Of the 20 candidates named, only four are the party’s incumbent MLCs
Throwing up many surprises, the Congress on Monday evening released its list of 20 candidates for the Legislative Council elections, with several new faces figuring on it. One of the biggest surprises was Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council S.R. Patil being denied the ticket to contest from Vijayapura-Bagalkot Local Authorities’ constituency. Of the 20 candidates, only four are the party’s incumbent members in the Council.
Sources said though the Congress held both the seats in the dual-member constituency of Vijayapura-Bagalkot, it was believed that the ticket would be given to four-time MLC Mr. S.R. Patil and the other Congress member, Sunilgouda Patil, brother of former Minister M.B. Patil, would not get the ticket. However, Mr. Sunilgouda Patil was eventually picked. The Congress has a chance of winning one of the two seats, sources said.
KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed, who had played an active role in the elections to the Hanagal Assembly constituency where the Congress candidate Srinivas Mane registered a victory, has been given the ticket to contest from Hubballi–Dharwad. Incidentally, Mr. Mane represented one of the two seats in Hubballi–Dharwad.