Priyanka to contest from Bellary?

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JAN. 19. The Opposition leaders are not prepared to accept the description of the Chief Minister and KPCC(I) president, Mr. S. M. Krishna, of the talk of the Congress(I) fielding Ms. Priyanka Wadhera from the Bellary Lok Sabha Constituency as a rumour, at its face value.

They are reading meaning into the reported statement of the Congress(I) leader from Bellary, Mr. K. C. Kondaiah, who has been elected to the Rajya Sabha, that the party would announce its candidate on January 31, the last day fixed for the filing of nomination papers.

They expect the Congress(I) to repeat the drama it had attempted in October last when the AICC(I) president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, airdashed to Bellary in great secrecy and filed her nomination papers on the last day. But the BJP had got wind of it and outdid the Congress(I) by fielding Ms. Sushma Swaraj from there.A Janata Dal (Secular) leader said he expected Ms. Priyanka Wadhera to be flown into Bellary on January 31 and fielded as the Congress(I) candidate. There was much meaning in the reluctance of two of the Ministers from the district, Mr. M. Y. Ghorpade and Mr. Allum Veerabhadrappa, opting out of the contest.

Moreover, some of the State Congress(I) leaders were overeager to display their loyalty to the Indira Gandhi family by supporting the candidature of the daughter of Rajiv Gandhi and Ms. Sonia Gandhi.

The Parliamentary Board of the JD(S) is meeting here on January 21 to take a decision on its candidate for the byelection.

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Section  : Regional
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