The Congress has finally nominated retired IAS officer G. Kumar Naik as its candidate for Raichur (ST) parliamentary constituency in the second list.
A 1990 Karnataka cadre IAS officer, Mr. Naik served as Deputy Commissioner of Raichur between 1999 and 2002 and post-retirement, he has aligned with the Congress.
The Congress seems to be banking on Mr. Naik’s work in Raichur district as Deputy Commissioner to woo the electorate. It has chosen Mr. Naik over Ravi Patil, who was a strong contender for ticket.
According to sources in the Congress, Mr. Naik’s work as Deputy Commissioner in Raichur, particularly in handling the drought situation, rejuvenating the city’s old tank and initiatives taken in getting development projects implemented effectively, seemed to have gone in favour of his candidature.
On the other hand, the BJP has not yet finalized its candidate for the constituency. As of now, B.V. Naik, a former Congress MP who joined the BJP during the Assembly elections, seems to have an edge over other aspirants in the saffron party.
The Raichur Lok Sabha constituency spread over Raichur Urban, Raichur Rural, Manvi, Lingsugur, Deodurg, Yadgir, Shahapur and Shorapur Assembly constituencies has a total of 19.93 lakh voters.
