Muddahanumegowda, the sitting Congress MP from Tumakuru turned rebel, has withdrawn his nomination as an independent candidate in the Lok Sabha Elections. Tumakuru was the only constituency in the state where JD(S) is fielding a candidate in spite of a sitting Congress MP. The two parties had agreed to contest in the constituencies where they had a sitting MP.
He announced the decision after a meeting with Deputy CM G Parameshwara and KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao at his residence in Tumakuru.
On Friday, KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara met Muddahanumegowda and requested him to withdraw the nomination. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Dinesh Gundu Rao said that Muddahanumegowda is a loyal member of the Congress and that the party’s leaders have promised to show him the respect he deserves.
“These kinds of things are common in politics. In the past too candidates and leaders have been disappointed. Muddahanumegowda is an honest and loyal member of the party. We promised him that the party would not forget his contribution. I am confident that he will withdraw his nomination,” Dinesh Gundu Rao added.
Soon after, Muddahanumegowda’s associates Ravi Kumar and former Congress MLA KN Rajanna withrew the nomination on his behalf.
On Monday, when former Prime Minister and JD(S) candidate HD Deve Gowda filed his nomination from Tumakuru, Muddahanumegowda marked the occasion by taking out a rally of his own and filing his nomination as an independent candidate.
"Today, in the entire country 44 MPs are there and in these 44 if you give everyone a ticket and deny me, how fair is this? You have taken part in a coalition government but despite knowing how I have worked in the constituency, you have sacrificed me for coalition interests. How fair is this?", he asked his supporters during the rally. Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had, however, told reporters on Monday that he was confident of convincing Muddahanumegowda to withdraw from the contest.
The MP met former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah before announcing his withdrawal. This paves the way for HD Deve Gowda to contest as the sole candidate from the coalition against BJP candidate GS Basavaraju. Deve Gowda had won five times from the Hassan constituency before relinquishing it to his grandson Prajwal Revanna.
After weeks of speculation over where he would contest from, Deve Gowda eventually picked Tumakuru over Bengaluru (North) constituency.