Karwar: Six time MP Anantkumar Hegde has been denied ticket by BJP in Uttar Kannada constituency for the present Lok Sabha elections. Former Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly Kageri Vishweshwar Hegde has replaced him for the contest.
Anantkumar Hegde had contested seven times continuously from the constituency and had been elected six times. But he disappeared from the scene after previous Lok Sabha polls and to come back only two months ago. He continued his communally provocative statements which created more controversies and even gave a statement of his party changing the Constitution by winning 400 seats. This created a new controversy at national level. He was absent for all campaigns in the last Lok Sabha polls, even for Modi’s public meet in Ankola.
Kageri Vishweshwar Hegde too has been elected 6 times for Vidhan Sabha and faced a single defeat in the last polls. Coming from RSS background, he has been in politics since 1999. Chakravarti Soolibele, Journalist Hariprakash Konemane were also initially named for the ticket. However BJP high command has ended all speculations by granting the ticket to Kageri who is contesting Lok Sabha elections for the first time.
