Mangaluru : District-in-Charge Minister B Ramanath Rai said Congress candidate Prathapchandra Shetty for the forthcoming Legislative Council election was selected unanimously by the party. All the Congress leaders will support his candidature, he noted.

Briefing media persons here on Tuesday, Rai said the name of the candidate was finalised only after consulting leaders from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi districts and Congress MLAs from the district. “There is no confusion and differences of opinion among the Congress leaders,” he said.

The minister expressed confidence that the gram panchayat members will back the Congress candidates in the polls. The Congress has been engaged in a fight against the communal forces which are disrupting peace in the district, he claimed.

Rai said the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has failed to reduce the price of petroleum products when the prices have slashed at the international market. The Centre has also failed to check the rise in price of essential commodities, he criticised. The party will stage a protest against the Centre for pursuing vendentta politics against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case at 10 am on December 23, he said.