The Hindu : Karaddi launches campaign to elect teacher to Council

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 28, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Karaddi launches campaign to elect teacher to Council

By Our Staff Correspondent

GULBARGA May 27. V.B. Karaddi, who has decided to contest the election to the Legislative Council from the North-east Teachers' Constituency as an independent candidate, has launched a novel campaign to elect a teacher from the constituency which has not elected on in the past three elections.

Addressing a press conference here today, Dr. Karaddi said that during his campaign, he was stressing the need for electing a teacher. "The teachers should vote only for a teacher; others should be shunned." They need not necessarily vote for me, but they should vote for one of the teachers in the fray and break the tradition of electing non-teachers from the teachers' constituency. He said only teachers could understand the problems of their colleagues and project them in proper perspective in the Council.

A lecturer in the Bhoomireddy College in Bidar, Dr. Karaddi was a member of the Syndicate of the Gulbarga University four times and a Senate member for one term. He contested the election to the Council from the North-east Graduates' constituency against the BJP candidate, M.R. Tanga, and finished second in 1994.

Dr. Karaddi, who initially decided to contest as a Congress candidate, later changed his stance and wanted to contest on the Janata Dal (U) ticket. But after it was known that the Janata Dal factions would field S.K. Kanta as their candidate, Dr. Karaddi decided to contest as an independent candidate.

He clarified that he had not applied for ticket from the Congress or the Janata Dal. He said senior Janata Dal leaders offered him the party ticket and, on March 3, the leaders, including the JD(U) State unit President, C. Byre Gowda asked him to start campaigning and said his candidature would be announced after a meeting on March 8. "What happened in between is a mystery, and Mr. Kanta was fielded as the candidate of the Janata Dal."

Dr. Karaddi considers the sitting MLC, Shashil G. Namoshi of the BJP as his main opponent and claims that he has a fairly good chance to win the election given his background and the work he has done in the field of education during his long stint as Syndicate and Senate member of the Gulbarga University.

He said he had already completed four rounds of campaigning in Gulbarga, Bidar, Bellary, Raichur, and Koppal districts, and Harapanahalli taluk in Davangere District, and hoped to complete two more tours of the constituency before the election.

He had also formed campaign committees in all the taluks and big hoblis.

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