Days after Karanataka Congress issued a show-cause notice to Harsha Moily in connection with an ‘unauthorised’ tweet over selection of candidates for the coming elections, senior Congress leader and his father M Veerappa Moily has announced that his son will not contest the 12 May state Assembly elections for the “sake of unity” of the ruling party.

Assembly elections are scheduled for May this year in Karnataka.

“I have decided. My son (Harsha) has also decided that he will not contest the election this time…We have decided to work for the victory of Congress party in Karkala and all other places,” he told reporters here yesterday.
He said that “for the sake of the unity of Congress party we have taken this decision.”

Responding to a question, the former union minister said, “…this is my response to those who write that I wanted seat for my son… dynastic…. He will not contest.”

Recently, Moliy and his son Harsha landed in a controversy with regard to a tweet claiming “nexus of contractors determining selection process for upcoming state elections”.

The controversy began after an ‘unauthorised’ tweet from Moily’s Twitter handle slammed the Congress Party saying, “INC need (sic) to solve money in politics. We can’t afford to have contractors and their nexus with the state PWD minister determine how candidates are selected for the upcoming assembly elections.”

The same tweet was shared by Harsha who tagged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also.

The tweet was later deleted from Moily and his son’s twitter handles.
As the tweet went viral and created a buzz in the state political circles, Moily had said it was “a mistake” committed by someone else and the Twitter handle was not in his control.

“It’s not (an) appropriate (tweet).. I’m withdrawing,” he had said.

The tweet row had broke out amid reports that Moily, also a former Karnataka chief minister, was unhappy over ‘discouraging’ remarks made by Mahadevappa during a screening panel meeting about giving party ticket to Harsha to contest the assembly polls from Karkala.

The BJP had also seized the opportunity and attacked Congress, state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa said Moily’s tweet validates his party’s stand that Siddaramaiah is “a 10 per cent CM”.

The comment relates to a charge made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in the state recently, where he had called the Siddaramaiah dispensation a “10 per cent commission government.”

Yeddyurappa called the tweet as a message from Moily’s “conscience” .

“At last someone’s conscience in @INCKarnataka proddedhim to speak up! @moilyv ji is right. We have been saying that @siddaramaiah is 10 percent CM,” Yeddyurappa said.

“With contractors filling PWD min’s deep pockets, state’s coffers & roads are in tatters. Congress veteran’s view validates our point,” Yeddyurappa tweeted.

(With agency inputs)