Bengaluru: The internal fight in the Congress is not restricted to the state level, it also exists in the districts with former Lok Sabha MP from Udupi-Chikmagaluru K. Jayaprakash Hegde fighting the ‘outsider’ tag imposed on him by his own party leaders in the coast.

Mr. Hegde joined Congress in 2008 from the erstwhile Janata Dal. Sources close to him told this newspaper that Udupi Congress leaders including district in-charge minister Vinay Kumar Sorake are spreading false reports that he is planning to quit Congress and join BJP before the 2018 Assembly elections.

Sources also said that the rumours against Mr Hedge were the handiwork of district leaders. District in-charge minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, Udupi MLA Pramod Madhwaraj and MLC Prathapchandra Shetty are behind this campaign, they claimed.

Followers of Mr. Hedge believes that the campaign is a well calculated plan of district leaders who don’t want another leader to compete with them in the party.

The Udupi Congress was united in the 2012 Lok Sabha by-elections to Udupi Chikmagaluru Lok Sabha elections which Mr. Hedge won.

However things have changed in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Loyalists of Mr. Hedge point fingers at Vinay Kumar Sorake, Pramod Madhwaraj and Prathapchandra Shetty for his defeat in 2014.

They allege that prominent congress leaders have not shown interest to ensure the victory of the Congress candidate after they won the 2013 Assembly elections.

Caste politics is another reason for Congress differences in the district. Since two decades, the Bunt and Billava communities have been fighting for political dominance. Mr. Sorake who belongs to the Billava community is opposing Bunt leader, Hedge’s rise

Mr Hedge denied any move to join BJP. “Neither have I approached BJP, nor has BJP approached me”, Mr Hedge told ‘Deccan Chronicle’.