BENGALURU: Despite several rounds of discussion, the Congress Election Committee which met in New Delhi on Wednesday could not come out with the second list of candidates for Karnataka because of lack of consensus for four seats -- Kolar, Ballari, Chikkaballapur and Chamarajanagar.
It will now be announced on Thursday, sources said. There were differences over Kolar as two factions, led by Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa and former speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, had heated exchanges at a meeting with the CM and DCM. Muniyappa insisted on a ticket for his son-in-law Chikkapeddappa, a sub-registrar, while Kumar batted for CM Muniyappa, a leader who worked for the victory of Kotturu Manjunath in the Assembly polls.
Though the high command insisted that Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa should contest, he lobbied for his son Sunil Bose for Chamrajnagar. But as a survey report is against Bose, another faction opposed it. Former MLA Nanjundaswamy is an aspirant.
In Ballari, though the high command wanted minister B Nagendra to contest, he sought the ticket for his brother Venkateshprasad. But former MP VS Ugrappa emerged as a strong contender. In Chikkaballapur, if BJP fields Sumalatha Ambareesh, Congress will opt for Shivashankar Reddy, otherwise it could be Raksha Ramaiah.