Ticket trouble haunts all three state parties

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: With only 180 days left for the polls to Karnataka Assembly, all three political parties in the state are busy scouting for suitable and winnable candidates for 224 Vidhana Sabha segments. At the same time, they are worried about the problem of rebellion, which is likely to affect their prospects of coming to power.

While the Congress has invited applications from aspirants seeking tickets to contest, the Party is facing a serious problem, as it received as many as 1225 applications for 224 seats. The intention of the Party is to plan cadre outreach to nip any rebellion after the selection of candidates. This idea has helped Congress to a little extent as it has collected Rs 23 crores with candidates paying a nonrefundable fee of Rs2 lakh (Rs.1-lakh for reserved seats), besides an application fee of Rs5000.

According to sources, the party is facing a problem of plenty, as there are many contenders for a few Assembly segments. Because of the increase in the number of aspirants, discontent appears to be brewing in constituencies such as Vijayapura Urban, Shivamogga, Aurad, and Manya. So the party has decided to tread carefully. In its bid to get leverage over the two national political parties, the regional party, Janata Dal (Secular) is planning to name candidates early.

The party leadership had promised to release the first list of candidates at the launch of its ambitious Pancharatna Yatra. However, multiple factors, not least of which is innerparty politics besides the uncertain moves of its rivals have delayed the release of the first list of candidates.

Even as JD(S) senior leader HD Kumaraswamy has embarked on the Panchartna Yatra, to mobilise support ahead of the Assembly elections, the party in Mysuru and Chamundeshwari constituency received a major jolt with senior party functionaries upset with the Party’s decision to field both GT Deve Gowda and his son Harish in two important constituencies - Chamundeshwari and Hunsur. JD (S) supremo HD Deve Gowda’s interaction with G T Deve Gowda, who was upset over the way, he was treated by the party, has changed the scenario with the senior leader not likely to quit the party now.

Local party leaders and grassroots workers are however protesting against the decision of senior leaders. Describing G T Deve Gowda as a rebel candidate, local leader Beeregundi Basavanna, cited his earlier statement hinting at joining either Bharatiya Janata Party or the Congress to contest in the 2023 Assembly polls.

Five local leaders have come forward seeking the ticket from Chamundeshwari constituency and have asked HD Kumaraswamy to choose any one of them. However, Kumaraswamy on Thursday categorically that, there will be no change in the candidates announced by him during the Pancharatna Yatra.

Reacting to his father H D Deve Gowda’s statement in Mysuru that; list of candidates being announced now is not final and it may change in accordance with the changing political scenario, Kumaraswamy said, that, there would be no change in the list of candidates announcing that Govindaraju will be the candidate for Tumakuru, as earlier announced.

But, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not in a hurry to announce candidates, as the Party has assigned the task of surveying and strategizing on the coming polls to an agency by the name- Varaahi, and is planning to issue tickets based on the report submitted by the agency. Meanwhile, the BJP is facing rebellion in segments held by turncoats.

The Party is understood to be facing serious problems in constituencies represented by MLAs who switched from Congress and JD (S) to the BJP in 2019. BJP candidates, who were not able to Vidhana Soudha in 2018 and have no hope of getting tickets in the coming 2023 polls are planning to defect to either JD (S) or Congress, as they don’t want to sacrifice their political career by standing by the BJP.

Former BJP legislator UB Banakar joining the Congress last week is an indication of brewing discontent in BJP over the allocation of tickets to winnable candidates. According to sources VS Patil, former MLA from Yallapur is prepared to resign from the primary membership of the party, as BJP is bound to field Shivaram Hebbar, another turncoat.

Athani constituency is the real challenge for BJP, as both Mahesh Kumatalli and former Deputy Chief Minister and Member of Legislative Council Lakshman Sawadi are vying for the ticket from this constituency. It is significant that Mahesh Kumatalli who contested from Congress, defeated Lakshman Sawadi of the BJP in 2018.

However, he had to sacrifice his seat to the latter in the by-election held in 2019. Mahesh Kumatalli, who should get the ticket logically doesn’t want to compromise, but Savadi is now lobbying hard for a chance to regain a seat he represente