BENGALURU: After weighing in various factors, the Congress has picked its seven nominees for the June 13 polls to the Legislative Council, to be elected from the Assembly, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s son Dr Yathindra, political secretary K Govindaraju, and Minor Irrigation Minister NS Boseraju making the cut.
According to sources, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramaiah have had their say in the selection of three and two nominees, respectively.
BJP turncoats disappointed
Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar, however, was unable to safeguard the interests of some aspirants, especially from the Vokkaliga community, sources said.
Yathindra has been picked for giving up the Varuna Assembly seat to his father, prior to last year’s Assembly polls. The party high command, especially AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, who had played a key role in Siddaramaiah becoming the chief minister a second time, had also committed to make Yathindra an MLC, sources added.
The high command cleared Boseraju’s name, taking into account his contributions to the party. Kharge loyalists and KPCC working president Vasanth Kumar, who hail from SC (Left) community, and Kalaburagi District Congress Committee president Jagdev Guttedar have been selected.
“Kharge strengthened the base for his son and RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge in the Kalyana Karnataka region,” remarked an aspirant, who missed the chance. Former MLC Ivan D’Souza managed to get nominated under the minorities quota, while former chairperson of Karnataka Minorities Commission, Bilkis Bano, who hails from Shivamogga, has been selected under the women’s quota.
The Grand Old Party has also announced the name of former State Youth Congress president Basanagouda Badarl i , a Veerashaiva Lingayat, as its candidate for the bypoll to be held for the seat that fell vacant, following the resignation of former CM Jagadish Shettar.
Meanwhile, the selection of nominees came as a blow to many aspirants, especially former Koppal BJP MP Sanganna Karadi, former MLCs KP Nanjundi, and Tejaswini Gowda, who had quit the saffron party and joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Seventy four-year-old Karadi had expected Shettar’s seat. Besides, party loyalists VS Sudarshan, BL Shankar, VS Ugrappa, All India Youth Congress president BV Srinivas, Dr CS Dwarakanath, KPCC chief spokesperson AN Nataraj Gowda, Aishwarya Mahadev, Kavitha Reddy, Kamalakshi Rajanna, MC Venugopal, SA Hussain, Dr BC Muddugangadhar, Basavaraju, and KPCC Women’s Wing president Dr Pushpa Amarnath, among others, were also left disappointed.
There were about 300 aspirants, of whom Shivakumar shortlisted 60, to present before the high command, which took the final call after consulting senior leader Rahul Gandhi. The party can win seven out of 11 seats that go to the polls on June 13, and the last day for filing nominations is Monday.
Govindaraju's third stunt
CM Siddaramaiah’s political secretary K Govindaraju’s entry into the Upper House for a third consecutive term has raised many eyebrows. A few had predicted that he may miss the bus this time.
But his loyalty to the party and contributions to the sports arena seem to have paid off, convincing the high command regarding his candidature, sources said.
He is the only Vokkaliga among the seven nominees. It is, however, to be seen if he will be inducted in the Siddaramaiah cabinet in the event of any reshuffle after the Lok Sabha polls, they added.