Mangalore: Congress gets ready for Lok Sabha elections

Mangalore, nov 30, 2012 : The Loka Sabha elections will be held in 2014 if everything goes according to the schedule. As contestants are scrambling for tickets to the assembly elections, which will be held in May 2012, the local Congress party is making preparations for the Loka Sabha elections too.

K. Ashraf, former mayor of Mangalore, presented a number of facts and figures and urged the Congress high command to provide more opportunities for the Muslim community. Revealing statistics, he said that, of the 13 lakh voters in the DK Lok Sabha Constituency, Christians were 1.5 lakh and Muslims were 3.5 lakh. Owing to these numbers, a ticket must be given to a Muslim candidate, he said.

Further, he said that, although the minorities have always favored the Congress party and worked for its success, the party has still not given representation for the minorities of DK in proportion to their population.

He also said that, although Gulbarga has the largest number of Muslims in Karnataka after DK, not a single Muslim has been given an opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha seat. He also pointed out that the Congress has lost the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency six times, owing to which a Muslim candidate ought to be given the chance this time.