Congress loses assembly seat even before polls

In a bizarre turn of events, the Congress party has lost the Davangere north assembly seat even before the first vote is cast in the ensuing assembly elections in Karnataka.

The Returning Officer of the constituency rejected the nomination papers of two candidates who had filed their nomination papers as Congress candidates on “technical grounds”.

S Mallikarjun and Syed Saifullah had both filed their nomination papers in anticipation of the Congress party’s B form. The party leadership delayed the finalization of its official choice till the last date and rushed the B form issued in the name of Saifullah through a helicopter on Tuesday, the last date for filing nominations.

But, Mallikarjun’s supporters, who went on a rampage targetting buses and damaging bus shelters, gathered in large numbers at the helipad and even tried to snatch the bag containing the B form from Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) member Manjunath Bhandari.

According to Saifullah, Manjunath’s supporters snatched the B form away, scratched Saifullah’s name and wrote Mallikarjun’s name and presented it to the Returning Officer.

But, during scrutiny of nomination papers taken up the next day, the Returning Officer rejected the nomination papers of Mallikarjun as well as Saifullah as they were “defective”.

The Returning Officer Panduranga said Mallikarjun’s nomination paper was accompanied by a “tampered” B form while Saifullah’s did not contain the B form. “Hence, both the nominations have been rejected”, he said, leaving the Congress party in an embarrassing situation.

Meanwhile, the Congress party has decided to hold in inquiry into the matter. “We have already ordered an inquiry into the issue. After receiving the report, action will be taken”, said All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in charge of Karnataka affairs Prithviraj Chavan.