BENGALURU: BJP’s chessboard strategy of shifting sitting MLAs and experimenting with new faces in its second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, has made it a daunting task for the Congress to set up formidable matches.
Ministers in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s cabinet are backing out from contesting for various reasons, including the PM Modi factor. “With no other option, the party leadership may give tickets to the kin of top leaders and ministers, and try out new faces with a low profile in some seats, as there are no takers,” a source said.
The Congress, which had announced its first list of seven candidates, kept deferring the second list. BJP replacing sitting MP Pratap Simha with royal family scion Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar as the Mysuru-Kodagu candidate has apparently made it tough for the Congress.
Many potential aspirants are backtracking, except for KPCC spokesperson M Lakshmana who is likely to be the final candidate. Interestingly, though Siddaramaiah’s son and former MLA Dr Yathindra’s name had created ripples in the beginning, he too backtracked as soon as Yaduveer’s name came into the picture, a source said.
Shifting Shobha Karandlaje from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru to Bengaluru North, and fielding Kota Srinivasa Poojary also helped the BJP to some extent. But the Congress is committed to field former chairman of Backward Classes Commission K Jayaprakash Hegde. The party also has a tough task in Chamarajanagar, Kolar, Belagavi, Chikkodi, Ballari, Davanagere and other seats, as ministers Dr HC Mahadevappa, KH Muniyappa, Satish Jarkiholi, Nagendra and SS Mallikarjun are not ready to contest, though their names were proposed at the Congress screening committee meeting.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter Sowmya Reddy’s name is finalised for Bengaluru South, and former Union minister K Rahman Khan’s son Mansoor Ali Khan’s name for Bengaluru Central, according to sources. But KPCC president D K Shivakumar’s attempts to convince Govindaraj Nagar MLA Priya Krishna to contest from Bengaluru North went in vain.
The Congress is likely to experiment by fielding Billava community member R Padmaraju, trustee of Kudroli Gokarnanatheshwara Temple, against BJP’s Captain Brijesh Chowta in Dakshina Kannada. Since AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge is unlikely to contest the polls, his son-in-law Radhakrishna Dodmani’s name is almost finalised.
Modi scared of Kharge: DKS
The Congress Election Committee (CEC) meeting will be held on Tuesday, and the second list may be out on Wednesday, DCM D K Shivakumar informed the media on Sunday. “Modi has started his campaign from Karnataka, especially Kalaburagi. That shows he is scared of Kharge. Congress will win 20 seats in Karnataka, including Kalaburagi, he said.
The guarantee implementation committee members’ meeting will be held on Thursday at the state, district and taluk levels, where they will be assigned Lok Sabha election responsibilities, he added.