K'taka polls: Ashok Kumar Rai is Congress' Puttur candidate!?

Puttur: According to Congress party sources, Party’s candidate for the Puttur constituency in the upcoming state assembly elections has been confirmed as Ashok Kumar Rai Kodimbadi, however, official confirmation in this regard is still pending.

While names of candidates for three assembly constituencies in Dakshina Kannada district are yet to be announced, it appears that the ticket allocation for Puttur is now almost finalized.

There were reportedly many ticket aspirants from Congress, including former MLA Shakuntala Shetty and Kavu Hemanath Shetty. However, Ashok Kumar Rai was ultimately selected as the candidate for the constituency.

Interestingly, Rai had previously attempted to secure a ticket from the BJP on two occasions before switching to the Congress party.

As for the other parties in the running, the BJP has not yet finalized its candidates for the upcoming polls, while the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is fielding Shafi Bellare and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is fielding Dr Vishukumar.

The state assembly elections are expected to be closely contested, with various political parties vying for power in the region.