BENGALURU: The Congress may be going to the Lok Sabha polls in an alliance with the JD(S), but it has already started the process of identifying potential candidates for all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka.
The state Congress on Sunday concluded its two-day consultation meeting with district leaders, unit chiefs and legislators.
AICC General Secretary in charge of party affairs in Karnataka K C Venugopal, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Congress Legislative Party chief Siddaramaiah held talks with leaders of Hubballi-Dharwad, Chitradurga, Gadag-Haveri, Kolar and Tumakuru among others in back-to-back meetings to draw names of probable candidates.
“We are holding meetings with district leaders, MLAs and district unit presidents to elicit opinion. They are giving names and it will all be compiled and placed before the election committee. The list will be sent to our central leadership where the selection screening committee will take the final decision. The process has just begun,” said Parameshwara.
While the coalition partners are yet to finalise on their seat-sharing formula, Congress is preparing a list of its candidates and aspirants for all Lok Sabha seats.
While many leaders from Hubballi batted for Vinay Kulkarni despite his loss in the assembly elections, others compelled the party leaders to consider candidates like S R More from the OBC community since the party has been giving preference to Lingayat candidates in the last four elections.
Leaders like K S Basavaraju urged the Congress not to give a ticket to Shivamurthy Naik for the Chitradurga Lok Sabha seat, accusing him of backing the BJP in the Assembly polls.
“People of my community have been protesting demanding a ticket for me in the Lok Sabha polls from Chitradurga. If the state leaders refuse to give me a ticket, I will directly go to (Congress chief) Rahul Gandhi,” said Shivamurthy Naik after his candidature was opposed by leaders of the district.
Former minister H K Patil, who was present for the Gadag-Haveri seat discussion, said a candidate has not yet been decided upon.
“We will hold a meeting under G S Patil’s leadership and decide on a candidate unanimously in the next 15 days,” H K Patil said.
Discussions with district leaders have so far been a stormy affair for the Congress. With many aspirants in the fray, the party has a giant task of filtering through all the names suggested by district-level leaders.
In Haveri alone, Saleem Ahmed, Shivanna, B R Patil and Srinivas Mane are in contention for the MP ticket. While senior party leader Manohar Tehsildar has suggested Saleem Ahmed and Shivanna, others pushed for Mane.
Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara are said to have asked the district leaders to discuss among themselves and suggest two final names to be sent to the central screening committee.
The party hopes to retain its sitting MPs in Chitradurga, Kolar, Chikkodi and Tumakuru, but the names of competing aspirants will also be included in the final list which will be sent to the screening committee.
“We are working out strategies to win all 28 seats in Karnataka. Yes, in alliance with the JD(S),” said Venugopal when asked about seat sharing with their coalition partner.