CORRIDORS OF POWER
When the PM spoke to a surgeon
Where does a party high command gather information from before selecting candidates for Parliament elections? Most likely local leaders, party cadre, the general public, or may be pollsters.
But here is a case where the party apparently collected information about a candidate from hospitals, including from a brain surgeon.
Ramesh Jigajinagi (pictured), veteran BJP leader and Vijayapura MP, told reporters that his ticket was declared after the party confirmed the status of his health. “No less a person than Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to all the hospitals that I was admitted to in Bengaluru, Bagalkot, and Belagavi in the last few months. Mr. Modi spoke to the surgeon who conducted an operation on my head to remove a clot in my brain at KLE hospital in Belagavi. The doctor clearly told him that it was a minor surgery and that I was fit enough to fight polls. The doctor also told the PM about the political conspiracy against me. Then, my name was included in the second list,’‘ he claimed.
Mr. Jigajinagi alleged that some vested interests were spreading baseless rumours about his health. “They had told the Delhi leaders that I had suffered a brain haemorrhage and that I was unable to speak,’‘ he said.
“But I was confident.
Party national president J.P. Nadda had already assured me of my ticket when he came to see me at the Belagavi hospital,” he claimed.
Forgiveness for which mistake?
Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy (pictured), addressing a party workers’ meeting in Hassan recently, appealed to the people to support his nephew Prajwal Revanna in the Lok Sabha elections.
“Forgive him for the mistakes he committed. We are members of your family. If children of the family commit mistakes, don’t you give them a chance to correct themselves?” he asked.
Similarly, former Minister H.D. Revanna, Mr. Prajwal’s father, sought people’s apologies if either he or his son committed any mistakes. Mr. Prajwal, who is all set to contest, seeking a second term in Lok Sabha, also made similar appeals. The MP’s family was in the news for allegedly forcing a person in Holenarasipur to sell his property to a businessman in Bengaluru.
Besides that, Mr. Prajwal was accused of not visiting all places in the constituency during his term.
The people of Hassan are curious to know for which “mistakes” the family members have been seeking an apology. “Let them first make a list of the mistakes they committed, and then we will decide whether to forgive them,” said a voter in Hassan.