BENGALURU: Urban Development Minister Roshan Baig is preparing the ground for his son Ruman Baig’s entry into electoral politics and the father-son duo are in the race for a Congress ticket from Shivajinagar constituency. Roshan and Ruman have both submitted applications for a party ticket from Shivajinagar, which is currently represented by Roshan Baig.
Roshan Baig, who was in the running for a Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka, was keen to see his son Ruman getting the ticket from Shivajinagar if the party high command had nominated him (Roshan) to the Rajya Sabha. But, with the Congress high command dashing his aspirations for a Rajya Sabha seat, the senior Baig is likely to enter the fray for the Assembly election from Shivajinagar constituency.
Similarly, Mudigere constituency in Chikkamagalur district is witnessing a strong claim within a family with the mother-daugher duo of MLC Motamma and Nayana emerging as front-runners for the Congress ticket. Apart from Motamma, three more MLCs — V S Urgrappa from Molakalmuru, K C Kondaiah from Ballari city and Srinivas Mane from Hubballi-Dharwad Central — have sought tickets to enter the Legislative Assembly.
“So far, about 2,500 ticket aspirants have obtained applications for the 224 assembly constituencies and over 1,000 of them have submitted the filled applications,” a senior KPCC functionary told Express. The party has extended the March 10 deadline for submitting applications to March 12. Chamarajpet, Arasikere, Chitradurga and Ballari city are among the constituencies which have received high numbers of applications.
The party high command’s instruction for ticket aspirants to quit their party posts has caused a big worry for many leaders who have applied for tickets. The instruction, however, does not apply to top level KPCC office-bearers.
JD(S) rebels are a worried lot
The rebel JD(S) MLAs who have been knocking at the doors of Congress — Zameer Ahmed Khan, Chaluvaraya Swamy, Iqbal Ansari, Balakrishna, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda, Bheema Nayak and Akhanda Srinivas Murthy — are worried as the Congress high command is yet to take a decision on fulfilling its promise to induct them into the party and give them party tickets. As a result, the seven MLAs have not applied for tickets so far. The MLAs are hoping for a positive decision soon from the Congress high command on fielding them.