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