Mangaluru: Will contest as a rebel if Congress picks an outsider for DK, says Poojary

Mangaluru: The Congress could find itself in a sticky situation in Dakshina Kannada as party veteran, B Janardhan Poojary is not only keen on a ticket from the constituency himself this Lok Sabha poll, but has also warned of contesting as a rebel should it choose to field an “outsider” like SCDCC Bank chairman, M N Rajendra Kumar or MLA Ivan D'Souza from it instead.

Mr Poojary, who was speaking to reporters here on Thursday, said that he intended to meet former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders like A K Antony in a couple of days to stake his claim to the party ticket for Dakshina Kannada constituency.

“People want me to contest as they want corruption- free governance. But I have learnt through the media that Rajendra Kumar's name is doing the rounds in party circles although he is not a Congress member and is facing several corruption charges. I will make my opposition clear to giving him the ticket when I meet the senior leaders in Delhi,” Mr Poojary said, warning that if he did not succeed, he would contest against Mr Kumar.

“If the party fields Rajendra Kumar I will contest against him (as a rebel),” he declared. Asked if he was okay with Mr Ivan D'Souza contesting from the constituency, Mr Poojary warned he would take him on too. “But I have no objection if the party fields any other candidate like Ramanath Rai, Vinay Kumar Sorake or Hariprasad,” he added.