Krishna Hegde says that Congress doesn’t follow transparency norms while distributing tickets and has sidelined Marathi candidates.
Former Congress MLA Krishna Hegde has alleged that Congress has failed to issue ticket to Marathi candidates in those areas where there is sizeable number of Marathi voters. He said that the party has sidelined Marathi candidates and has expressed his displeasure over the flawed ticket distribution process adopted by senior Congress leaders. Hegde added that the Congress doesn’t follow transparency norms while distributing tickets. Last month, Hegde had quit Congress party to join BJP ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election. He has been appointed as the vice-president of BJP Mumbai unit by Adv Ashish Shelar.
Hedge said, “Six corporators exist in Vile Parle constituency. More than two lakh Maharashtrians are residing in this assembly constituency and around 1,40,000 Maha-rashtrians caste their votes. Congress has not issued ticket to even a single Maharashtrian candidate and has sidelined them which is unjustified.”
“Tickets have been issued to relatives of party leaders and grassroot workers were ignored. As a result of this, they are unhappy with the Congress leadership. There is a huge disconnect between party workers and senior leaders as they remain inaccessible,” added Hegde.
“I am not issuing any personal comment against anyone. Due to the prevalence of internal conflict within the Congress party and flawed ticket distribution process the party may be able to win only 20 to 25 seats in the civic body polls. BJP will emerge victorious in the election. On the other hand, BJP has issued tickets to four Maharashtrians out of six constituencies. Congress is anti-Maharashtrian and has overlooked them. There is total chaos. No norms have been finalised for ticket distribution. The frontal organisations have been sidelined for two years,” he added.
Countering his former colleague, Javed Shroff, former chairman of Maulana Azad Minorities Financial Development Corporation (MAMFDC) and General Secretary of MRCC said, “People are issuing misleading statements. We are not anti-Marathi party. In my constituency where I am the voter Congress has issued ticket to Jyotsna Dighe. She is the third time sitting corporator. We have issued ticket to Geetanjali Mahadik who is another Maharashtrian. Thus we have allotted tickets to many Maharashtrians. The Congress party follows some guidelines while selecting candidates and we have adhered to that.”
Without naming Sanjay Nirupam, Shroff said, “It is unjustified to make allegation against someone as the high command has appointed an observer like Bhupinder Singh Hooda for overseeing the allocation of tickets.”
