Mangaluru: All hell broke loose when former MLA Vijayakumar Shetty realized that for the 2018 Assembly Elections, he had been ignominiously dumped third time for Mohiuddin Bava from the Mangalore North constituency.

With this move, the Congress Party High Command has unwittingly created a lot of dissent in the ranks, which may not play out well during campaigning. Several aspirants have openly criticized the choices made by senior party officials and are now mulling over their options- whether to strike out as rebel independents or switch loyalties.

Speaking to the press, Mr.Shetty said, “They had promised me an MLC ticket. They also promised to appoint me as the district president. But none of the promises have been fulfilled. Now they have denied me the MLA ticket too. I am hurt by the party’s decision to declare Bava as the candidate from North constituency.”

Reacting to Mr. Shetty’s statement, another Congress leader, Purushotham Chitrapura said that he will join the meeting called by Shetty and urge him not to leave the party.

One can understand where Mr. Shetty’s disbelief and anger is coming from. In the 2008 election, he had given his ticket to Bava but the latter lost the elections.

In the 2013 elections, Mr. Bava was given the ticket and he won and this year he was again given the ticket but Mr. Shetty was left out in the cold so the question is, what is Mr. Shetty’s next step?