Taking note of the unrest in the Basavakalyan unit of BJP after the party ticket was denied to the local aspirants and given to Kalaburagi-based Sharanu Salagar, Housing Minister V. Somanna said that he would talk to all the aspirants who were deprived of the opportunity to contest the byelection on the party ticket and convince them to work for the official party candidate.
Speaking to media representatives at Kalaburagi airport on Monday, Mr. Somanna said that he was not aware of the party’s considerations in selecting Mr. Salagar though there were over 16 aspirants in Bidar district.
“I don’t know why Mr. Salagar was preferred over local aspirants. Once the party decided to field Mr. Salagar, all the rank and file need to work hard for his victory. I, however, would talk to all the dissidents, especially Mallikarjun Khuba who was a strong contender for the ticket. I am sure that all of them would be convinced,” Mr. Somanna said.
Asked about former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s allegations that BJP national leaders were paid a huge amount of money in return for the party’s ticket to the Basavakalyan segment, Mr. Somanna said that such baseless allegations do crop up at the time of elections.
