Bengaluru:
Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily said on Wednesday that the party gave him everything and he has no regrets about leaving electoral politics. The former Union Minister was keen to contest from Chikballapur seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but he was denied the ticket. He had won from this seat in the parliamentary elections of 2009 and 2014, but lost in 2019.
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Moily, 84, said, “It was a good excuse for me to retire (from electoral politics).” He said that when the central leadership of the Congress pointed out that M. Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi As senior leaders like him are also not contesting the elections this time, he agreed to it and asked him to give up his claim on the Lok Sabha seat.
“I would have won again in Chikballapur this time,” Moily told PTI here a day after announcing his retirement from electoral politics, underlining that he was disappointed by the party's move to deny him the ticket. Are not. He said that he always follows the decisions of the high command.
Moily said, “I do not want to show people that I am greedy for power or position. I will continue to work for the party. I will not contest elections. I will continue to work and serve the party.'' Recalling that he had won the assembly elections six times, he said that he was made a minister and given important departments and later he also became the Chief Minister.
Moily said that in the second term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he was made a minister and got the opportunity to handle six departments. Moily had earlier also served as the in-charge of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in other states including Assam, undivided Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Moily said, “I have worked in all positions. The party gave me everything. I am happily leaving electoral politics. I have no regrets of any kind.
He said that he will always be grateful to Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, late Rajiv Gandhi and late Indira Gandhi for appointing him to important posts and taking him into confidence in party matters. Moily said he would campaign for party candidates on all the seats where the party asks him, including Chikkaballapur, Udupi-Chikkamagalur and Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituencies.
(This news has not been edited by NDTV team. It is published directly from the syndicate feed.)
