BENGALURU: Congress has delayed the announcement of its candidates for the remaining four of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, as Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa is insisting on a ticket for his son-in-law Chikkapeddappa from the Kolar segment, while Social Welfare Minister Dr HC Mahadevappa is lobbying for a ticket for his son Sunil Bose from Chamarajanagar. The other reason for the delay is that the Grand Old Party wants to wait for the BJP-JDS list before announcing its candidates, especially for Kolar, party sources said.
An internal survey report with the party high command indicates an edge in both seats reserved for the Scheduled Caste category. “Despite not having any backing from the local MLAs, the two ministers are playing spoilsport,” a Congress leader confessed.
As part of the strategy, Congress may go with either an SC Left candidate like Dr L Hanumanthaiah or an SC right candidate if JDS fields a Bhovi candidate.
On Sunday, former speaker KR Ramesh Kumar called on AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and told him not to agree to Muniyappa’s demand, as party leaders in the constituency, including all the MLAs and defeated candidates, are averse to him. Kumar suggested the name of CM Muniyappa, an SC right member and a Kolar local leader, for the seat. Kharge is likely to decide after consulting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
For Chamarajanagar, Siddaramaiah had plans of fielding Mahadevappa and sending him to national politics, which would have left a cabinet berth vacant to offer to any of his loyalists. But Mahadevappa categorically refused to, and now, Sunil Bose’s name seems to have been cleared, sources said.
Another strong aspirant, former MLA Nanjundaswamy, broke down and tried to meet Kharge, but could not. If Mahadevappa is not contesting, then it may be difficult for Congress to win the seat, a survey has indicated.
The party has finalised Sanduru MLA E Tukaram for Ballari, though former MP VS Ugrappa too was a strong contender. For Chikkaballapur seat, Raksha Ramaiah, son of former minister Seetharam, has emerged as a strong contender, though former union minister M Veerappa Moily and former state minister HN Shivashankar Reddy have lobbied hard at the high command level. “We have left it to the discretion of the high command to clear the candidates for the four seats,” a senior leader said.
Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru on Sunday that there is no crisis in finalising the candidates. The list for the four seats is likely to be out either on Monday or Tuesday, he added.