Karwar: Congress backed JD(S) candidate Anand Asnotikar who was defeated in Lok Sabha election in Uttara Kannada constituency claimed that Senior Congress leader and Uttara Kannada district In-Charge Minister R V Deshpande did not support him wholeheartedly to win the election.

Asnotikar expressed displeasure over the alliance between Congress and JD(S) and said if there was no coalition of parties, JD(S) Supremo H D Deve Gowda and Mandya Lok Sabha Constituency candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy would have won the election. The party has faced a setback because of the alliance, he added. 

There may be a Modi wave in the country, However, in the Uttara Kannada constituency, there was also a wave against Anant Kumar Hegde, who had not developed the constituency, even after being elected as member of parliament for five times. This would have helped me to win in the electoral battle, but, Minister Deshpande has not supported me strongly. “I would be the winner today if Deshpande had worked for me during the elections,” he said. “Other than this, delay in the distribution of ticket is one more reason for my defeat. There was no sufficient time for me to campaign across the constituency,” he added.