KPCC working president and MLC Saleem Ahmed has said that former chairman of Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti will be dumped by the teachers this time for joining a communal party.
Speaking to presspersons after accompanying Congress candidate Basavaraj Gurikar for filing nomination papers in Dharwad on Wednesday, Mr. Ahmed said that Mr. Horatti had remained undefeated for seven times because of his secular credentials.
“However, fearing defeat, he has joined the saffron brigade now. The teachers will reject communal forces and teach a befitting lesson to him this time,” he said.
Mr. Ahmed said that Mr. Horatti had severed ties with the Janata Dal(Secular) for the sake of securing a plum position, which had naturally disappointed the teachers. The BJP had always neglected the teaching fraternity.
This apart, a series of scams have been unearthed, including the recruitment scams of the PSIs and the assistant professors. The price rise, maladministration, and division of society on communal lines were the other issues that would dissuade teachers from voting for Mr. Horatti, he said.
Former Minister H.K. Patil said that Mr. Horatti had always been vocal against the communal politics and the undemocratic stands of the BJP. However, now by joining the BJP, Mr. Horatti had proved that he too was communal.
Mr. Patil said that the educated and sensible voters of the Teachers’ constituency would now vote for Congress candidate, Mr. Gurikar, who had been fighting for their cause for the last four decades.
Mr. Gurikar said he would appeal for a vote of change and he would fight for the cause of teachers and to solve various problems that had remained unresolved for years. The number eight would prove to be unlucky for Mr. Horatti, he added.
