BENGALURU: The Congress Election Committee (CEC), chaired by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, held its maiden meeting in New Delhi on Friday and cleared the names of 124 candidates for the Assembly polls in Karnataka.
Almost all the 71 sitting MLAs and single names proposed by the screening committee headed by Mohan Prakash have been cleared, while those who lost the 2018 Assembly polls by a narrow margin have been given nod. Most father-children combinations too have got the green signal and their names are likely to figure in the first list. Enough hint on this was given by KPCC president DK Shivakumar, who said, “Fathers, sons and daughters are there in all parties.” But the first list may be released after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled visit to Belagavi on Monday or after Ugadi on Wednesday.
After a three-hour meeting at the AICC headquarters, the leaders shifted to Kharge’s official residence for another round of deliberations.
Accommodating turncoats who are ready to join the party at the last minute was also discussed, a source said. The CEC, however, has cleared the names of certain candidates, including that of Darshan, the son of former LS member Dhruvanaryan who died recently, for the Nanjanagudu seat in Mysuru district, Mulbagal MLA Nagesh and also Hoskote MLA Sharat Bachegowda, who had won as independent MLAs and joined Congress, sources said.
Children of most veteran politicians, including former Union minister KH Muniyappa’s daughter and KGF MLA Roopakala Shashidhar, former minister H C Mahadevappa’s son Sunil Bose from T Narasipura Assembly seat, CLP leader Siddarmaiah’s son Dr Yathindra, who is Varuna MLA, Mallikarjuna Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge, Chittapur MLA and former minister Motamma’s daughter Nayana Jawhar are likely to feature in the first list.
The meeting discussed offering the CV Raman Nagar seat to HC Mahadevappa and Mahadevapura or Pulikeshinagara in Bengaluru to former deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwara if he feels Koratagere is still difficult for him to tackle. This is part of the party’s strategy to win more seats from Bengaluru. Muniyappa is likely to get the Devanahalli ticket, the sources said.
The Pulikeshinagar seat, represented by Akhanda Srinivasamurthy, has not been declared as minorities have opposed his nomination, a source informed TNIE.
Dr MC Sudhakar for Chintamani, Subbareddy for Bagepalli, Shivashankar Reddy for Gauribidanuru, Ramesh Kumar from Srinivasapura and S Narayanaswamy from Bangarpet too have been cleared, the sources said.
Playing on the caste equation, the leaders also discussed the probability of letting in Hiriyur BJP MLA Poornima Srinivas, daughter of former minister late A Krishnappa, who hails from the Golla community, the sources said.
Screening Committee chief Mohan Prakash, Rahul Gandhi and other leaders took part in the meeting. The candidates for the remaining 99-100 seats including those that have multiple aspirants would be cleared when the polls near to quell rebellion, they added.