KALABURAGI: A day after the Lok Sabha polls concluded for Karnataka, politicians have already started preparing for the next race, the assembly bypolls for Kundgol and Chincholi segments, which are scheduled for May 19.
With last day to file nominations on April 29, lobbying for tickets has begun in Congress and BJP. Bypolls for Chincholi was necessitated after Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav resigned to contest as BJP candidate in the LS polls and in Kundgol, Congress MLA C S Shivalli died.
Sources said Umesh Jadhav rushed to Bengaluru on Tuesday, hours after polling ended, to put pressure on the BJP leadership to select a candidate of his choice. He had reportedly struck a deal to this effect when he agreed to contest as the party candidate from Gulbarga. He is keen on fielding his son Avinash Jadhav, an MD student.
However, this might not work out for BJP as they had attacked Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and accused him of promoting his son. If BJP is unhappy with Avinash’s candidature, Jadhav might then suggest his brother Ramchandra Jadhav or relative Arun Pawar’s name, sources said.
The Congress camp too has their fair share of leaders vying for the spots. In Chincholi, there are Subash Rathod and Babu Rao Chauhan, both switchovers from BJP. But they face opposition from traditional Congress leaders. Kharge is expected to take the final decision. A meeting will be held in Bengaluru on Thursday.
In Kundgol, Congress is likely to field Shivalli’s wife Kusuma to cash in on the goodwill that the leader enjoyed in the region. For BJP, the competition is between SI Chikkanagoudar, who lost last year, and MR Patil. While the former is a relative of state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, Patil had in the past contested against Chikkanagoudar when he stood on a KJP ticket. Both lost to Shivalli. The two filed their nominations on Wednesday.
All about bypolls
Last date for filing nomination - April 29
Scrutiny - April 30
Last date of withdrawal- May 2
Voting - May 19
Counting - May 23