BENGALURU: Congress is finding the going tough in the bypolls to be held on November 3. It is not only struggling to finalise its candidates, but also has to contend with the ire of party workers from Mandya and Ramanagara against giving up the two seats to JD(S) as part of the poll pact.
A meeting of Congress senior leaders headed by AICC general secretary and in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka K C Venugopal, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and others finalised the name of Anand Nyamagouda, son of late Congress MLA Siddu Nyamagouda, as the party candidate for Jamkhandi Assembly seat.
However, the search for “winnable” candidates for Ballari and Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituencies to take on J Shantha and B Y Raghavendra respectively from BJP is proving a tough task. The meeting shortlisted former minister Kimmane Ratnakar and Shivamogga district Congress committee president T N Srinivas for Shivamogga as the possible candidates.
The meeting has decided to recommend the names of Venkatesh Prasad, brother of Congress MLA Nagendra, and former Zilla Panchayat vice president Nettakallappa for the ticket from Ballari. The party high command will take a final call within the next couple of days.
It also formally decided to fight the bypoll on a 3--2 formula with JD(S) where Congress will put up its candidates for 3 seats--Ballari, Shivamogga Lok Sahba seats and Jamakhnadi assembly seat --- while JD(S) would contest Mandya Lok Sabha seat and Ramanagara assembly seat as part of the coalition spirit to put up a united fight against BJP.
However, the decision is threatening to pose problems for the grand old party as leaders from Ramanagara and Mandya Congress units met Venugopal and made a forceful plea for putting up party candidates from these two places.
Iqbal Hussein, the Congress candidate who contested against H D Kumaraswamy in Ramanagara in the recent Assembly election, strongly opposed the decision to give up the seat to JD(S). “I had polled 69,000 votes in the assembly election in Ramangara against Kumaraswamy and the party workers are not in a mood to give up the seat to JD(S),” Hussein said.
Congress MLC and senior leader from Ramangaram C M Lingappa too conveyed the view that the pact with Janata Dal(Secular) in Ramanagara would deal a big blow for the organisational base of the party in the district.
The Mandya unit of Congress too urged the party leaders against supporting JD(S) in the district. Venugopal and Siddaramaiah urged the party rank and file to understand the compulsions of the party leadership to make a few compromises to achieve larger goal of
defeating BJP.