The state Congress is expected to announce its final list of party candidates shortly.
According to sources, the screening committee headed by former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Falerio from Thursday will sit for two days and scrutiny the list of party probables submitted by the State Election Committee (SEC). The SEC headed by four divisional committees had pruned a long list of party aspirants who had submitted application seeking party ticket from 224 Assembly seats in the state.
Union Home Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge, AICC general secretary B K Hariprasad, former chief minister N Dharam Singh and Opposition leader in the Karnataka Legislative Council S R Patil, had recommended single names in several constituencies mainly represented by the sitting MLAs.
The party supremo Sonia Gandhi, who was determined to ensure victory for the party in the state had constituted a screening committee headed by Falerio to further prune the list before final approval. With the constitution of the screening committee the focus of the state Congress has been shifted to New Delhi as the party aspirants are making last minute efforts to win the attention of central leaders and get party ticket.
Defying the party diktat not to throng to New Delhi for lobbying for the tickets, the party aspirants are now camping in the capital .
The screening committee led by Falerio was entrusted to wade through the list prepared by the KPCC election committee.The KPCC had reportedly had recommended as many as 20 names, including a few ministers and legislators from both the Congress and the JD(S) for the party ticket. Names of Forest Minister C P Yogeshwar and Small Scale Industries Minister Raju Gowda were in the list. The KPCC had also recommended the high command to give party ticket to four independent MLAs, who had won the last Assembly elections.
Happy With ECI
The Congress has welcomed the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold elections to the Karnataka Assembly in a single phase. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar said, “We welcome the decision of the ECI. The single phase elections announced would not only remove confusions but would also help to conduct the elections in a more fair manner.” Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi has constituted a committee headed by Defence Minister A K Anthony to monitor and coordinate party’s poll strategy. The committee include Ambika Soni, Jitendra Singh, L Falerio, Vylar Ravi, Dr Parameshwar and Siddaramiah.