BENGALURU:With the release of third list of its candidates, the Congress team is ready to take on the opposition. While the party high command has effected changes in 6 constituencies as part of its exercise to quell dissidence and forge greater unity among the state Congress leaders, the composition of the list reflects a clear domination of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in its selection.
Desperately in need of a man who could help in stopping the Modi-Amit Shah juggernaut, AICC President Rahul Gandhi has fulfilled almost every wish of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with a hope that he would deliver Karantaka again into Congress lap. Despite resistance from Congress old guard like Mallikarjun Kharge, KH Muniyuappa, Jaffer Sharief and Veerappa Moily, the party high command had given a decisive say for Siddarmaiah in selection of candidates. Of the 223 candidates the party is fielding, more than 125 are seen as Siddaramaiah camp followers.
His clout in selection of candidates was evident when Rahul Gandhi acceded to his demand of giving tickets to all the 7 JD(S) rebels who joined Congress. The message was clear for the dissenting senior leaders when the high command stood by Siddaramaiah in giving the ticket to Akahanda Srinivas, a rebel JD(S) man, in Pulikeshi Nagar ignoring the rebellion of 4 time Congress MLA Prasanna Kumar, a staunch Kharge loyalist. Prasanna Kumar has now entered the battle as the JD(S) candidate.
Siddaramaiah also had his way in getting the ticket for businessman Ashok Kheny, the Bidar South MLA
who is under a cloud in implementaiton of Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project.
Similarly, Siddaramaiah also succeeded in overcoming resistance within the party against fielding Anand Singh from Vijayanagar and B Nagendra from Bellary. The two accused in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining had joined Congress from BJP just a couple of months ago.
Siddaramaiah has won the latest round too by forcing the high command to agree on his demand to contest from two seats.
What’s wrong in Siddu contesting from 2 seats, asks Kharge
Bengaluru: Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge refused to be drawn into a debate over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah contesting from two constituencies - Chamundeshwari and Badami. As he faced questions on the issue, Kharge shot back at reporters here on Sunday saying “What is wrong in Siddaramaiah contesting from two seats?” He denied that Siddaramaiah was compelled to contest from Badami fearing a defeat in Chamundeshwari. “Siddaramaiah is contesting from two constituencies in accordance with the decision of the party high command. Situation and circumstances have made him contest from two seats. The BJP is indulging in a misinformation campaign about Siddaramaiah’s prospects in Chamundeshwari,” Kharge said. “Nobody said anything when Prime Minister Narendra Modi contested from two seats. What is wrong if Siddaramaiah does it?” Kharge asked. He refused to reply when asked whether he will be a contender for the chief minister’s post if Congress is voted back to power in the state. “I will not reply to your hypothetical questions,” he said.
15 women in the list
Congress has fielded 15 women candidates out of the total 223. However, it has disappointed A L Pushpa, who was earlier declared as the party candidate from Jagalur by replacing her with H P Rajesh. However, the party has made up for it by giving the ticket to a woman, K P Chandrakala, in Madikeri in place of H S Chandramouli.