No decision yet on Rahul Jarkiholi’s candidature, says Satish Jarkiholi

The Jarkiholi-Jolle panel is yet to decide on fielding Rahul Jarkiholi in the District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB) elections, Minister Satish Jarkiholi said in Belagavi on Friday.

The Minister was responding to speculation that his son Rahul Jarkiholi will enter electoral politics through the cooperative society. “We have not decided on this issue yet. There is still time for filing nomination papers,” he said.

To a query, he said he was not involved in any law and order disturbances in the district that occurred in the run up to the DCCB elections. He denied allegations that his panel members had hijacked members of primary agriculture cooperative societies.

Meanwhile, Prataprao Patil, JD(S) national vice-president, and son of former Minister V.L. Patil, said that he was not interested in contesting DCCB polls. He spoke to supporters in Gokak after performing pooja at the Sri Laxmi temple. The leader who was the first president of Belgaum zilla parishad, said he had remained aloof from politics for several years for personal reasons.