Ivan shining, Ballal unhappy

By CT reporter
MANGALORE: It has been reliably learnt that the North Block Congress president Suresh Ballal is greatly irked over the undue publicity enjoyed by the DCC vice president and former JD leader Ivan D’Souza.
Presently, Ivan who is eying the Mangalore assembly constituency has maintained good relations with all leaders particularly the administrative reforms commission chairman Veerappa Moily. This in turn has become difficult for Ballal to digest.
Ivan who is a recent entry into the Congress and was spitting venom against the Congress while in the Janata Dal earlier, is presently shining in the Congress and is considered one of the district Congress leaders. He was even the election agent of the Congress candidate in Ullal. All these activities by Ivan with an eye on Mangalore constituency. This has irked Suresh Ballal who is very well aware of Ivan’s intentions. He was the man who was in the race for a party ticket during the previous assembly election when the former deputy mayor Lancelot Pinto sidelined him. This time there is no chance for Lancy as Ivan has superceded all Christian leaders in the Congress. For that matter, even the DCC chief Blasius D’Souza is totally inactive. Considering all these aspects, Ivan is forging ahead with full vigour in the Congress.
Ballal is particularly infuriated with Ivan, more so because he (Ballal) too is an ex-Dal man who had defected to the Congress and had even contested from Mangalore once. Now his second chance is all likely to be snatched by Ivan.