BENGALURU: Determined to stop the Modi-Shah bandwagon, the state Congress leaders have initiated the process of identifying party candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Initial rounds of talks within the party seem to have started even before the coalition partners finalise seat-sharing arrangements for the general elections.
According to sources in the know of the developments, former minister Ramalinga Reddy and former MLA and real estate baron Priya Krishna figure in the party’s plans for Bengaluru South — the constituency that is considered a BJP bastion. Ananth Kumar had won six elections consecutively from the constituency. After his demise, the party is likely to field his wife Tejaswini Ananth Kumar in the 2019 elections.
“Ramalinga Reddy and Priya Krishna’s names were discussed at a meeting attended by senior leaders, including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and several other leaders, a few weeks back. However, no decision has been taken by the party,” said a senior Congress leader who was part of the meeting.
While Reddy represents BTM Layout in the state assembly, Priya Krishna had unsuccessfully contested the last assembly elections from Govindrajnagar assembly segment. Priya Krishna’s father M Krishnappa is an MLA from Vijayanagar assembly segment in Bengaluru. All three assembly constituencies are part of Bengaluru South Lok Sabha seat.
Sources said Reddy is not interested in contesting Parliament elections and he is gunning for cabinet berth in the state during the expansion that is expected to take place shortly. Reddy was Home and Bengaluru Development Minister in the Siddaramaiah government.
“Congress leaders consider Reddy as a formidable candidate to wrest the seat from BJP, but he is not keen to contest Lok Sabha elections. Krishnappa, however, is not averse to fielding his son, but has left the decision to the party leadership,” sources said.In 2014, Lok Sabha elections, former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani had contested as the Congress candidate and lost to BJP’s Ananth Kumar with a huge margin of over 2.25 lakh votes.