Mangaluru/Udupi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s efforts to convince independent candidates in the undivided Dakshina Kannada district, have failed as former MP JP Hegde and Harikrishna Bantwal have taken firm stands not to back out.
According to sources, Siddaramaiah contacted Hegde over telephone on Thursday December 11, and tried his best to convince Hegde to withdraw the candidature. However, the latter is said to have informed the CM that he was firm on his decision.
On the other hand, Harikrishna Bantwal held a press meet on December 11 confirming that he would not withdraw his nomination at any cost.
Meanwhile, two other candidates Bhujanga Shetty and Shankar Kunder are likely to withdraw their nominations in order to support JP Hegde.
As Saturday December 12, is the last day to withdraw nominations, there is hardly any hope left for the Congress to see its candidate Pratapchandra Shetty have a dream run.
Meanwhile, the BJP candidate Sanjeev Matandoor, who had filed nomination papers as a dummy candidate withdrew his candidature on Friday, clearing the path for BJP’s official candidate Kota Srinivas Poojary.