Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Nov 27: Sources say that the national leaders of the Congress Party have shown an inclination to field candidates for both the legislative council seats from the twin-districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, election for which is set to be held on December 18.

Initially, it was thought that the Congress would field a candidate and leave the other seat for the BJP, to ensure that their respective candidates would register decisive wins. But perhaps, buoyed by the recent advances the party has been registering and a beating the BJP’s reputation has received because of the recent episode of dissidence in the state, the Congress has decided to try its luck in both the seats. The leaders who met at Delhi, as at present, are interested in fielding candidates for both the seats, which will fall vacant due to the retirement of the present incumbents, Pratapchandra Shetty of the Congress Party and Kota Srinivas Poojary of the BJP, on January 5.

The party is yet to narrow down its search on any single candidate, in both these constituencies. In the meanwhile, an independent candidate, Prabhakar Prabhu, who is the vice-president of Sangabettu gram panchayat in Bantwal taluk, filed his nomination as a candidate for the upper house on Thursday November 26.