Congress can bounce back if youngsters are given preference: Abhayachandra Jain

The former Minister K. Abhayachandra Jain, who represented Moodbidri constituency, on Friday said the Congress should give chance to new faces to contest elections in order to bounce back to power.

He was interacting with reporters on the sidelines of a programme to pay homage to legendary athlete Milkha Singh at the district Congress office here.

Responding to queries about his decision not to contest polls anymore, Mr. Jain said he had not contested the 2018 polls knowing fully well he could not win. He had suggested young leader Mithun Rai’s name as the party candidate.

It was setback for the Congress as the party has been fielding old faces to contest elections while majority of the electorate comprise the younger generation.

Mr. Jain said he, along with former Ministers Vinay Kumar Sorake and B. Ramanath Rai, were elected as MLAs at the age of 35-40 years.

Similarly, the party should give scope to young leaders who have been working hard for the Congress, he said. The BJP, he said, has given prominence to young leaders and was successful in getting more number of seats, he added.

At the condolence meeting, Mr. Jain urged the Union and State governments to give more prominence to sports activities. He, as the Sports Minister, had laid the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art swimming pool at Yemmekere in the city to be built at a cost of ₹5 crore. The project was in limbo now, he regretted.

Considering the increasing number of youngsters playing cricket in Dakshina Kannada and emerging successful at the State and national levels, Mangaluru should get a cricket stadium of international standard, Mr. Jain said.

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