KARNATAKA: SELECTION FEVER
The Congress’s first list of candidates has led to a minor revolt in the state unit
The Congress, struggling hard in Karnataka in the face of a determined comeback bid by the BJP, appears to have blundered in the allocation of tickets. A dozen sitting legislators have been denied renomination, ostensibly to make space for 10 new entrants from other parties—a move that has also reduced minority representation, and led to a minor rebellion in the ruling party.
Some Congressmen with decades in the party are distraught. V.R. Sudarshan, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president and longtime claimant to the Kolar ticket, for instance, announced his resignation 24 hours before the party declared its ‘first list’ of 218 candidates on April 15. “My experience has been overlooked in favour of a political novice; I cannot be witness to this,” says Sudarshan.
In fact, the Congress has managed to rile grassroots workers in at least 20 constituencies. Twelve MLAs have been dropped, citing “mediocre performance, poor image, old age and frail health”. The replacements include seven ‘deserters’ from the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), two from the BJP; and Ashok Kheny, a somewhat controversial entrepreneur-turned-politico.
Supporters of the ‘dropped’ MLAs staged street demonstrations against their party. B.B. Chimmanakatti, a sitting MLA and former minister, who had agreed to give up his constituency, Badami, as chief minister Siddaramaiah wanted to contest from there, is livid. “I agreed not to contest from Badami because Siddaramaiah was keen. But now that the chief minister is not contesting Badami, the party should have fielded me instead of an outsider (Dr
Devaraj Patil, an aide of Siddaramaiah),” he says.
Bengaluru-based analyst A. Veerappa says the goof-up is typical of the Congress, which is looking to placate everybody. “The Congress,” he says, ought to have done what it did with Capt. Amarinder Singh in Punjab in 2017 and accepted Siddaramaiah’s counsel on ticket allocation. The party took three days to finalise candidates in order to satisfy the whims and preferences of leaders like KPCC president and Dalit leader G. Parameshwara, Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjuna M. Kharge, Vokkaliga strongman D.K. Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah faction (OBCs) as well as party-hoppers. Parameshwara, who has evidently got his share of the cake, insists that the “situation is under control”.
The party is yet to name its nominees for five seats, including Shantinagar in Bengaluru, where N.A. Haris is the incumbent MLA. Analysts predict more trouble if Haris, whose son is behind bars in the February 17 pubassault case, is denied the party ticket. This, when there is already considerable heartburn over under-representation of minorities—just 15 of the 218 nominations declared thus far. Former MP Rahman Khan, whose son was denied a ticket, says he will petition party president Rahul Gandhi.
Disgruntled Congress leaders are clearly ‘good news’ for the JD(S). The party has already backed P. Ramesh, who was denied a ticket, as its candidate from C.V. Raman Nagar in Bengaluru. Mysore University academic N.L. Prakash says the rebellion in the Congress is great news for the JD(S) as it wants to play ‘kingmaker’ after the assembly polls.