Mangalore, 05 Mar 2013: Former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda has made it clear that he would not contest the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections.
Mr Gowda, who had participated in public campaign for March 7, ULB polls on Monday, told media persons that he was not among the ticket aspirants for assembly polls due in May.
Responding to a query he said that BJP’s first list of the candidates for assembly polls would be released by March 15. He said that BJP won’t issue ticket for criminals.
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Meanwhile, BJP sources said that the central leadership of the party is likely to accommodate Mr Gowda as a member of the party’s national executive.
“When Mr Gowda was asked to make way for Jagadish Shettar as the chief minister, the party leadership had promised him an important post. But it has not fulfilled the promise so far. Now, the party is seriously thinking of giving him a suitable post,” sources said.
Mr Gowda, who is eyeing the post of the State unit president, had recently met party president Rajnath Singh and held discussions with him.
The sources said that the party will take a decision on changing the State BJP president K S Eshwarappa only after the announcement of urban local bodies election results on March 11.
With Assembly elections just a few months away, the party central leadership is in a dilemma over changing Eshwarappa as there are many contenders for the post. A wrong decision could further affect the party, which is already seeing desertions, the sources said.