It is a do-or-die battle for many Congress Ministers with sons, daughters, relatives in the fray in Karnataka

With several ruling Congress Ministers in Karnataka having fielded their sons, daughters or relatives in the Lok Sabha election, the pressure is on them to drive the campaign from the front and ensure their victory.

With several ruling Congress Ministers in Karnataka having fielded their sons, daughters or relatives in the Lok Sabha election, the pressure is on them to drive the campaign from the front and ensure their victory.

This would mean that these Ministers — Ramalinga Reddy (father of Sowmya Reddy who is contesting in Bengaluru South), Satish Jarkiholi (father of Priyanka Jarkiholi who is contesting in Chikkodi), Laxmi Hebbalkar (mother of Mrinal Ravindra Hebbalkar who is contesting in Belagavi), Shivanand Patil (father of Samyukta Patil who is contesting in Bagalkot), and Eshwar Khandre (father of Sagar Khandre who is contesting in Bidar) — will hit the ground to ensure their victory.

The victory of their children would be crucial for the Ministers to continue in the State government after the general elections. Defeat of these candidates could mean a big setback and pressure would mount on them to give up Cabinet berths, say party sources.

Such Ministers have to not only mobilise funds but also the cadre to ensure the victory of their children. In a move to gain support, some Ministers had introduced their children to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and sought his blessings in the run-up to the campaign, even before the list was officially announced.

While Ms. Reddy, who holds an engineering degree, has experience of the electoral battle, the other four candidates who are the children of Ministers are testing the electoral waters for the first time.

In Davangere constituency, the Congress has fielded Prabha Mallikarjun, daughter-in-law of party veteran and Veerashaiva-Lingayat strongman Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Her husband, S.S. Mallikarjun is the Minister for Mines and Geology. Ms. Mallikarjun is facing incumbent BJP MP G.M. Siddeshwar’s wife, Gayathri Siddeshwar.

In Kalaburagi, AICC president M. Mallikarjun Kharge has handed over his constituency to his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani. Now, it is the responsibility of Minister Priyank Kharge to step up the campaign to ensure victory of his brother-in-law.