Report: The Hindu
Pic by Hemanath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi

Udupi, Apr 26: Former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and Congress leader Ramesh Kumar said on Saturday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was likely to form the next government at the Centre.

Kumar told presspersons here that as per the present indications, the chances of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) forming the government were bleak. There was also the possibility of the UPA and the Third Front coming together on ideological grounds and form the government at the Centre, he said.

Concern

To a question, Kumar said that the prevailing political situation in the State was nothing worthy of mention. Good politicians were being relegated to the background. This phenomenon was there in every political party. “There is a likelihood of rich dominating the political scene in the country in future,” he said.

Eminent persons

The Udupi parliamentary constituency had so far been represented by eminent personalities such as late U. Srinivas Mallya, late J.M. Lobo Prabhu, late Ranganath Shenoy, and late T.A. Pai. All of them were known for their integrity and vision.

The quality of debates in Parliament had deteriorated in recent years, Mr. Kumar said.

The Congress nominee for the Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituency, K. Jayaprakash Hegde, was a sincere person with a good track-record. He represented Brahmavar Assembly constituency thrice. He was once elected under Janata Dal ticket (1994) while on the other two occasions (1999 and 2004), he was an independent MLA. “His level of legislative debate was of a high quality. I am confident that he will raise the bar of parliamentary debate. Mr. Hegde will do justice to the Udupi-Chikmagalur parliamentary constituency,” Kumar said.

Congress leader Govindaraj Hegde was present.