Multiple ticket aspirants in Congress expose faultlines, hold protest

Signs of faultlines are showing up in the Congress, with challengers staking claim to tickets against well-known faces, and even incumbent MLAs.

As senior leaders shifted to Delhi for finalising the second list of candidates in 100 constituencies on Tuesday, signs of faultlines are showing up in the Congress, with challengers staking claim to tickets against well-known faces, and even incumbent MLAs.

This has become a headache for the Congress in several constituencies, as the party has promised tickets to candidates who have joined from other parties.

Seeking a ticket for their leaders for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections, a large number of Congress workers, holding placards from different constituencies, staged a protest in front of the party office here on Monday.

Activists from Kadur, Molakalmuru, Raichur, Tarikere, Tirthahalli, Chikkamagaluru, Gubbi, and other constituencies staged the protest.

There are apprehensions among the cadre that KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar has been “sidelining” aspirants who played a critical role in holding former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s 75th birthday in Davangere last year. Many aspirants in the 60-member committee set up to hold the “Siddharamotsava” have reportedly not received a positive response from the KPCC, sources said.

For instance, former Minister Kimmane Rathnakar and Manjunath Gowda are seeking ticket in Tirthahalli. While the former is said to be a loyalist of Mr. Siddaramaiah, the latter seems to be the preferred choice of Mr. Shivakumar. Similarly, in Mangaluru South, there is a strong contention between former MLC Ivan D’Souza, loyalist of Mr. Siddaramaiah, and J.R. Lobo, former MLA.

N.Y. Gopalakrishna, who resigned from membership of the Legislative Assembly on Friday, on Monday joined the Congress in the presence of Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Siddaramaiah. But some workers from the Molakalmuru constituency have been opposing giving tickets to him. They have urged the State leaders to field Yogesh Babu in the reserved constituency. Mr Babu secured 21.8% votes and lost to Minister B. Sriramulu in 2018.