Udupi: Following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s announcement of tickets for the upcoming Legislative Council election, former Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat has expressed displeasure over the selection of candidates. Bhat did not get a BJP ticket to contest the Assembly elections held last year. Despite missing the ticket, he was active in the party’s related activities. He expressed dissatisfaction after not being selected as the party’s candidate for the Legislative Council elections.
In a series of tweets, Bhat criticized the party’s decision to allocate tickets for the teachers’ and graduate constituencies to candidates from Chikmagalur and Shimoga, respectively.
On his X account, he wrote, “The MLC ticket announcement has been made. The teacher’s constituency ticket was allocated to the JDS candidate from Chikmagalur, while the graduate constituency ticket went to the BJP candidate from Shimoga.”
“Yet, with the recent MLC ticket distribution, one must ask who will address the injustice inflicted by the BJP’s break from tradition, which overlooked the coastal region’s teacher’s constituency for four decades.”
“I am troubled by the party’s decision, and it is a concern shared by many loyal party workers and supporters. I am open to discussion and welcome your guidance on this matter,” he wrote.
Bhat said that he has been an active member of the BJP since 1994 and worked for the party in various capacities.
He said, “In the previous Assembly election, the party denied the ticket without any prior intimation. At that time, the party’s senior leaders had assured me of the ticket to contest the Legislative Council election from the Graduate constituency, and accordingly, I started enrolling graduate voters actively and registered more voters. The party had given me the responsibility of in-charge in the Lok Sabha election in the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat, and I worked for the party extensively for 40 days staying in that constituency. Yet, the party denied the ticket to loyal party workers like me. I am disappointed by this. I will wait to see how the party leaders solve this.”
