Ali gets Cong ticket, miffed former MLA Bava joins JD(S)

Mangaluru: Mangaluru City North constituency was witness to high-voltage political drama, with former MLA BA Mohiuddin Bava deciding to quit the Congress party and join the JD(S), after the Congress party denied him a ticket at the eleventh hour.The Congress party that released its final list of candidates, decided to pick KPCC general secretary Inayat Ali to contest from the Mangaluru City North constituency. Following this, Bava filed his nomination as the JD(S) candidate from the segment on Thursday. With this, the constituency is likely to witness a triangular fight.

Ali and Bava have been in the race for a ticket to the constituency, and in the past few months, both were seen projecting themselves as the probable candidate. Bava launched a scathing attack on KPCC chief DK Shivakumar, and accused him of selling the party tickets to a contractor. “The constituency had 11 aspirants, and as per the Congress party’s internal survey report, my name was in the lead. Unfortunately, the party decided to select a candidate who had not performed well as per the internal survey report. I am deeply hurt. I was prevented from getting the ticket. I was even told to work for the constituency, and during the holy month of Ramadan I have been treated badly,” a teary-eyed Bava said. Bava’s brother BM Farooq is a JD(S) MLC, and close to party supremo HD Deve Gowda’s family. Meanwhile, BJP has fielded sitting MLA Y Bharath Shetty. Inayat Ali also filed his nomination papers on Thursday.
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