Cracks visible as Rahman files papers

Amid much fanfare, Congress candidate for Hebbal assembly constituency CK Abdul Rahman Sharief, grandson of party veteran CK Jaffer Sharief, filed his nomination papers at the Hebbal BBMP office here on Wednesday. But there was some dissent too, with a verbal duel breaking out between two camps which engaged in a sloganeering battle and also went to the extent of physical assault.
Rahman filed his nomination papers around 1pm, reaching the venue which was milling with party workers riding pillion on a two-wheeler. Even as he was filing his nomination papers with transport minister R Ramalinga Reddy, an argument broke out between the candidate's supporters. One of them took exception to the other shouting anti-Rahman slogans and broke a glass bottle on his head. The situation was immediately brought under control.
But the huge crowd prevented Sharief from reaching the venue to file his nomination papers, and he had to ride up on a supporter's scooter.
Later, he told the media he was confident of winning the bypoll. However, he could not immediately recall the Congress government's flagship programme Anna Bhagya, describing it as the “Re 1 rice scheme“.
He claimed he was well-versed with the constituency, which he lost in the 2013 assembly poll by a margin of 5,000 plus votes. Earlier, Rahman and Sharief met chief minister Siddaramaiah. Though Rahman reached Cauvery, the CM's official residence, around 9am, he wanted his grandfather to join him, leading to speculation that Siddaramaiah had delayed meeting him.
Sharief said he had to take his insulin dose before going to the CM's house. “In the CM's house, I asked them to serve me something to eat and we discussed the poll strategy over snacks. The CM told Rahman he should work hard now that he has been given the ticket. I told the CM he should ensure all his ministers and leaders work with the same zeal if the ticket had been given to somebody else,'' he added.
BJP candidate YA Narayanaswamy , who was the first to file his nomination papers, offered puja at Sanjaynagar's Radha Krishna temple. The belief is that anyone who offers puja is rewarded. He was accompanied by BJP leaders R Ashoka, S Suresh Kumar, PC Mohan, Katta Subramanya Naidu and others.
Former PM HD Deve Gowda was present during the filing of nomination papers by JD(S) candidate Ismail Sharif, alias Nana.
Bypolls to Hebbal, Bidar and Devadurga are scheduled on February 13.