BENGALURU: The Congress is said to have decided not to formally announce the list of candidates for the civic polls fearing a revolt from ticket aspirants. It has received at least 1,400 applications for 198 wards in the BBMP.
“As we are the ruling party, people see a better chance of the party coming to power in the BBMP. Hence, huge demand for tickets,” a senior leader told Express.
The Congress has a history of secretly giving out ‘B’ forms to its candidates in the last minute to avoid dissidence and thwart rebel candidates.
This has happened during local, Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections.
“The rebels will hurt the party’s poll prospects. By announcing the list we will be inviting trouble,” a leader said, explaining why they may not come out with a final list until the last day of the nominations.
Congress fears are not unfounded. The BJP is said to be expecting a few Congress fence-sitters to join its ranks. Already, a couple of former corporators have joined the BJP.
The JD(S), too, is looking at potential turncoats from the Congress and even the BJP.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, KPCC president G Parameshwara and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a meeting with ministers and senior party leaders where they decided to come out with a white paper on the funds released by the state government in the last two years. “We have released `3,700 crore for the city’s development after coming to power in 2013,” the CM told reporters after the meeting.
Besides engaging a minister to each of the 28 Assembly segments in Bengaluru, the Congress is also deploying a legislator or two in each of these constituencies to ensure that nothing is left to chance.
AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Digvijay Singh will hold talks with party leaders on Thursday before clearing the names at the election committee meeting to be chaired by the CM and the KPCC president.
As for the JD(S), former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and former minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan held a meeting with the party’s city leaders, including MLAs Gopalaiah and Akhanda Srinivas. The party is expected to announce its first list of candidates at a rally at the Basavanagudi National College Grounds on Thursday evening.
AAP Not to Contest Polls
Bengaluru: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided against contesting the August 22 elections to the BBMP as it anticipates another election soon due to the passage of a bill to restructure the civic body. The Bill is awaiting President’s assent. “This is a meaningless and farcical election as the BBMP can cease to exist anytime after the bill gets assent ... A fresh election is imminent. So the party decries this election,” state convener Siddarth Sharma stated in a press note on Wednesday. However, AAP said it will continue its organisation building work and offer people an honest alternative to the existing political parties.