Jayaprakash Hegde expelled from Congress party along with two other rebels

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, December 14, 2015: For contesting against the party’s official nominees in the elections to the Legislative Council, the Congress party expelled K. Jayaprakash Hegde, former MP; Dayanand Reddy, MLC, and K. Harikrishna Bantwal, general secretary of Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee for six years.

 

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president told the media on Monday that the party has expelled the three rebel candidates after consulting the party high command.

Hegde and Bantwal have remained in the fray in Dakshina Kannada-Udupi local bodies’ constituency. Incumbent MLC K. Pratapchandra Shetty is the party’s official candidate in the Dakshina Kannada-Udupi constituency.

In Bengaluru Urban constituency, Reddy has remained in the fray despite not getting the party ticket. M. Narayanawamy is the official candidate of the party there.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president, Home Minister G. Parameshwara, Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Former Union minister B.Janardhan Poojary had made efforts to persuade the leaders to withdraw from the fray. But, their efforts remained futile following growing support from the grass party workers in resentment against the local party bigwigs and their style of functioning.

Hegde, who on Sunday had said that he was ready to face expulsion, expressed his unhappiness over disciplinary action by the party high command.

One can’t term him as a rebel candidate, Hegde said, and he added that it was PrataChandra Shetty who worked against the party by not campaigning for him when he stood for elections in 2008 and 2014.

After the disciplinary action by the party the campaign for the election going to be very tough for the official nominee and top leaders from the party left no stone unturned to handle the situation.