Date:20/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/20/stories/2008022054100300.htm

Karnataka

Not all in favour of Prakash’s entry

Staff Correspondent

‘He should not put forth any conditions upon joining’

M.P. Prakash

DAVANGERE: The likely entry of the former Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash into the Congress has created ripples in the Harpanahalli Congress unit, with many leaders opposing his entry.

Davangere Zilla Panchayat member and Congress leader P. Ramana Gowda told The Hindu that accepting Mr. Prakash as a Congressman was difficult especially when he had opposed the party for 40 years. “We cannot, however, object to his entry if the party high command has allowed it, as they act in its best interests,” he said.

Advocate and senior Congress leader Chandrashekar Bhat said the Congress was a large entity and anyone could join its ranks provided he or she believed in what the party stood for. But Mr. Prakash should not put forth any conditions and should not aspire for opportunities to contest the polls or ministerial berths, he said. He also said that he was also expected to strive for the party’s welfare just as other party functionaries had done. The former MLA P.T. Parameshwara Naika said there were many senior leaders of the Congress in Harpanahalli who had supported the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Lambani candidates in the Assembly elections all these years. Since Harpanahalli had been made a general constituency, only leaders who fitted the bill would be given priority.