Sachin Pilot Out, Ex BJP Veteran In
While former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who recently joined the Congress after a fallout with the BJP, was on the list, the name of Sachin Pilot, who has been making headlines for his not-so-secret feud with Ashok Gehlot, was nowhere to be seen.
New Delhi: Two high-profile names were the highlights of the Congress’ star campaigners’ list for the upcoming assembly polls in Karnataka, one for making it and the other for being dropped off it. While former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who recently joined the Congress after a fallout with the BJP, was on the list, the name of Sachin Pilot, who has been making headlines for his not-so-secret feud with Ashok Gehlot, was nowhere to be seen.
Ashok Gehlot, along with other Congress Chief Ministers – Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Sukhwinder Singh Sukkhu (Himachal Pradesh) was a part of the party’s 40 star campaigners.
Mr Shettar was part of the Jan Sangh and BJP for several decades before severing his ties with the party after being dropped as a candidate for the May 10 election. He joined the Congress on Monday.
Sachin Pilot, who was on the list of star campaigners for the 2018 Karnataka polls, does not figure on the list this time. The 45-year-old was one of the star campaigners for the recently-concluded Assam polls.
The development comes close on the heels of Mr Pilot staging a protest against his own government in the state. He has alleged the Ashok Gehlot government failed to probe the corruption cases during the BJP regime.
Shashi Tharoor, who missed out on the Congress’ Gujarat list before making a comeback as the party’s star campaigner in Nagaland, has been included in the Karnataka list.
The list also features the constants – Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among others.
Karnataka Congress heavyweights, such as Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, Veerappa Moily, MB Patil, and Satish Jarkiholi would also be campaigning for the party.
Ramalinga Reddy, DK Suresh, GC Chandrashekhar, Syed Naseer Hussain, Zameer Ahmed Khan, HM Revanna, Umashree, Revanth Reddy, Ramesh Chennithala, Srinivas BV, Raj Babbar, Mohammed Azharuddin, Divya Spandana, Imran Pratapgarhi, Kanhaiya Kumar, Rupa Shashidhar and Sadhukokila are also on the list.
