Two seats, over 20 aspirants in Congress!

By Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Hectic lobbying is on in the Congress camp for the two seats the party can win in the election to the Legislative Council from the Legislative Assembly scheduled to be held next month.

Of the total seven vacancies, the BJP can send four candidates, the Congress two and the JD(S), one. In the Congress, a tussle has started between Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah and KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar who want their candidates to be chosen for the seats.

One of the Working Presidents of KPCC told News Trail that unlike the BJP, no discussion has been held so far in the Congress over the selection of candidates. The list of aspirants is as high as 20 and includes B.L.Shankar, Ramesh Babu, Iwan D’Souza, Narayanaswamy and V.S.Ugrappa. In the present situation, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar can have one candidate each of their choice but both names must be acceptable to each other. Ultimately, the high command will finalise the candidates.

Delhi leaders are planning to give a chance to youth and women in the election, and so the choice of candidates could be unexpected. Former CM Siddaramaiah wants to choose a Muslim or a backward class candidate for one seat while the choice of Shivakumar remains a secret.

The working president said already some state leaders are lobbying with Delhi bigwigs like AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and K C.Venugopal to impress upon the Gandhis to clear their names.

Shivakumar is reportedly considering recommending a transgender for one seat to give representation to the LGBT community but it is not confirmed yet. With adequate representation already given to Lingayats and Vokkaligas, the Congress may also choose a candidate from the minorities or backward classes.