BENGALURU: Congress was again put in an embarrassing position on Sunday after MLA Ashok Pattan was heard whispering to CLP leader Siddaramaiah, which was picked up by media mics, that KPCC president DK Shivakumar is preparing his own list of candidates for the Assembly polls and may drop some of the incumbent MLAs.
Just ahead of Siddaramaiah’s press conference, Pattan was also heard saying, “DK Shivakumar supporters led by former Mayor Sampath Kumar have been harassing Pulakeshi Nagar MLA Akhanda Srinivasmurthy. DKS may replace Akhanda with Sampath.” To which, Siddaramaiah replied, “Let them do whatever they want. Akhanda will miss the party ticket only if the ground report goes against him.”
But Pattan insisted that Sampath has been harassing Akhanda with the backing of DKS. To which, Siddaramaiah remarked, “They will spoil everyone’s chances by doing this.”
Sources said that there is truth in what Pattan said, as Akhanda had approached Siddaramaiah with a similar complaint.The party had faced a similar embarrassing situation a few months ago when former MLC VS Ugrappa and Salim were heard badmouthing Shivakumar, which was picked up by media microphones.Though Siddaramaiah’s supporters are expected to up their ante as the Assembly elections approach, the CLP leader himself has said that tickets will be distributed based on the winnability of candidates, as indicated by a party survey.