BENGALURU: Congress, which is preparing to contest 25 Legislative Council seats in January, on Saturday began consultations with leaders from districts to finalise the list of candidates by this month-end. Of the 25 outgoing members, 14 are from Congress.
The party is likely to field the same members for the next election as it does not want to take any chances, party sources said. But MLC Raghu Achar is not keen on contesting from Chitradurga and wants to pick Mandya, his hometown, this time.
This has put the party in a quandary as not many are willing to contest from Chitradurga as they feel they have to spend a lot of money to win the seat. Some local leaders have suggested the name of former minister H Anjaneya, but he too is reluctant as he wants to contest the Assembly polls in 2023.
"He may be more keen on contesting the Assembly polls," confirmed former Lidkar chairman Shankar from Chitradurga. At places like Tumakuru, where Congress was the runner-up in the 2015 polls, there is intense competition for the ticket.
Yalachavadi Nagaraj, who lost the Tumakuru Rural constituency in the Assembly polls, former MLA KN Rajanna's son Rajendra, who was the runner up in the 2015 Council polls, and veteran leader and ZP member Kenchamaraiah are the frontrunners.
Kenchamaraiah has given a representation to KPCC president DK Shivakumar and former deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwar, saying he should be given the ticket as his community, SC Left, has not been represented in the Upper House.
Shivakumar told The New Indian Express, “We have called for applications for ten days to select the candidates and we will finalise the list by the month-end." As part of the drive to reorganise the party and with an eye on zilla and taluk panchayat polls, district party presidents have been instructed to appoint office-bearers to all wings of the party, he said.
Starting with Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, the party will launch Gandhiji Gram Swaraj programmes, where local units have been instructed to hold either protest rallies or meetings at two grama panchayats every day, Shivakumar added.