Congress releases 1st list of candidates for Karnataka polls, no tickets for 14 MLAs

Mangaloretoday News Network

New Delhi, April 15: The Congress today released its first list of 218 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly elections - after much ado.

The May 12 assembly election is slated for 224 constituencies in the state. The list was delayed after differences cropped up among members of the party’s central election committee (CEC) which met on April 13.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah will be contesting the elections from Chamundeshwari, while his son Dr Yatheendra will contest the election from Varuna constituency.

Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge will contest from Chitapur. Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter Soumya Reddy will make her debut in politics by contesting from Jayanagar assembly constituency.

Candidates for Sindgi, Nagthan, Melukote, Kittur, Raichur and Shantinagar assembly seats have not been decided yet.

The Congress has not given tickets of 14 sitting MLAs. Besides only 4 tickets were given to kin of Congress leaders.

Speaking to India Today, Congress General Secretary incharge KC Venugopal said the party is clear that workers and winnability matters. It is a collective effort and it is a boost to party’s cadre. "The message is clear - winnability matters," he said.

At the CEC meeting, which met twice under the chairmanship of Rahul Gandhi, members deliberated on the selection of candidates for hours, but could not arrive at a consensus and met again on Saturday.

According to sources, some leaders raised objections over the grant of party tickets to recently joined BJP and JD(S) rebel legislators, besides some independents, the sources said.

The deliberations were also centered around the grant of party tickets to family members of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, state unit chief G Parameswara and some senior ministers.