Ms. Shetty was once the face of BJP in Puttur. On being denied a ticket by the BJP in the last Assembly elections, she came out of the party under the leadership of Mr. Bhat and started the 'Swabhimani Vedike'. She contested the Assembly polls as an independent candidate and proved her worth by garnering 25,171 votes. Ms. Shetty was later seen confining herself to activities of the Vedike and other women's and social organisations, thereby maintaining her social participation and contact with people of the region intact.
The JD(S) had also tried to woo Ms. Shetty in the past. Party state president H D Kumaraswamy had come to see her himself and held talks with her. It was then said that she is slated to join Sriramulu's BSR Congress party after she had a meeting with him as well. Ms. Shetty who kept talks of her joining JD(S) and BSR Congress at bay, surprised one and all by joining the Congress party, senior leader Vinay Kumar Sorake playing a key role in making her entry happen.
Ever since she joined Congress, discussions with regard to Congress' candidate for Puttur constituency became more intense. Ms. Shetty's entry into the Congress put Puttur Block Congress President Kavu Hemanath Shetty in a spot of bother as he was being identified as a prominent aspirant for the Puttur ticket. Hemanath Shetty is believed to have had won the support of senior Congress leader B Janardhana Poojary. On the other hand, Mr. Sorake's fans wanted him to contest the election himself. However, Mr. Sorake expressed his support to Ms. Shetty being fielded in Puttur. Giving Ms. Shetty a go in Puttur was also seconded by senior leader Oscar Fernandes and President of Jayakarnataka Sangha Mutthappa Rai.
Although no official announcement has been made so far, the word doing rounds in Puttur is that Ms. Shetty's candidature has been more or less finalised. Amidst these rumours doing rounds, Ms. Shetty's visit to her political mentor Ram Bhat's residence on Sunday has given more credence to the news of Ms. Shetty getting a green signal from Congress High Command for Puttur's election ticket.
But some Congress leaders have rubbished these rumours by stating that the High Command is yet to take a call in this regard. It remains to be seen as to whose name figures in the official announcement list to be made public by the Congress leadership.
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