Congress likely to finalise candidates for four Council seats today

The ruling Congress is expected to finalise candidates to be nominated as members of the Legislative Council against four vacancies on Wednesday (May 28).

The ruling Congress is expected to finalise candidates to be nominated as members of the Legislative Council against four vacancies on Wednesday (May 28).

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala are expected to hold talks on Wednesday to finalise the names.

Four seats in the Legislative Council have been vacant for the last few months following the end of the term of two Congress and one Janata Dal (S) leaders. Another fell vacant in November last year after former BJP MLC C.P. Yogeshwar crossed over to the Congress and won the Assembly bypolls from Channapatna.

The Congress appears to be in a rush to make the nominations to secure a majority in the Upper House. Gaining control in the Council would enable the government to pass Bills without much difficulty, sources in the party said.

Close to two dozen Congress leaders have been aspiring to become members of the Upper House. They include former Ministers, former MLCs and former MLAs, and senior leaders in the party.

Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar visited Delhi a couple of times to finalise the names but could not arrive at a final decision.

The party decided to reach a consensus in the nomination of candidates to ensure that there would be no embarrassment to those leaders who are AICC office-bearers, who are also in the race to become MLCs. The party is expected to clear the names of the four, including a candidate from the Vokkaliga community, and one each from the SC and OBC communities, and another minority leader, the sources said.