BENGALURU: Unable to pick candidates with a free hand and plagued by worries of revolt by sulking leaders and unsuccessful ticket aspirants alike, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar on Saturday delayed an announcement of the names of nominees to contest BBMP polls scheduled for August 22. Besides, party leaders from various castes and communities were trying to extract as many as tickets under the pretext of implementing the social justice formula.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader disclosed that both Mr Siddaramaiah and Dr Parameshwar were busy sorting out differences which cropped up due to new reservation matrix announced by the state government ahead of the polls.
“Nearly 40-50 wards represented by our partymen have been reserved for women. Former corporators with deep pockets are ready to shell out more money and are asking party leaders to allow their wives or sisters to contest. They are also trying for a ticket for themselves by dislodging others. This is causing major heart burn among leaders. As a result, both Mr Siddaramaiah and Dr Parameshwara held separate meetings with such leaders to convince them on Saturday,” the leader explained.
In addition, some senior leaders contributed to the delay in announcement of the list of candidates with their demand for more tickets for candidates belonging to their communities. “For instance, leaders from minority community, including former Union minister K. Rehman Khan, infrastructure minister Roshan Baig, home minister K.J. George and others have been demanding bigger share for Muslim and Christian candidates on grounds that the party did not give fair representation for these communities during the last elections too.
Among OBCs, former minister H.M. Revanna and party MLA Bairathy Basavaraju lead the pack in demanding more tickets for OBCs in general and Kurubas in particular. Therefore, an announcement of the list has been delayed,” the leader added.
BJP’s second list out, upsets many
After dithering and a late night drama, leaders of the state unit of BJP released the second list of names of candidates for 57 BBMP wards, including that of former Mayor Shantakumari, but upset Union minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and several unsuccessful ticket aspirants during the process of selection of nominees to contest the polls on August 22.
Mr Sadananda Gowda, who discovered that the committee did not pick his loyalist N. Harish for J.C. Nagar ward, forced the leaders to withhold an announcement on candidates for certain wards in Bengaluru (North) Lok Sabha constituency. Meanwhile, former Mayors, Sharadamma, B.N. Sathyanarayana and D. Venkatesh Murthy, are hoping to make it in the third list as the party has already released names for 143 of the 198 wards.
Sources in the party said the leaders were initially reluctant to field former Mayors but were forced to give in to pressure from various quarters. Of the 57 candidates announced on Saturday, 25 are women, while in certain wards ex-corporators managed to get tickets for their spouses. The last list of 55 names would be released on Sunday as nominations close on Monday, August 10, the sources added.
Sources said those who did not make it to the list have decided to contest as independent candidates in few wards. Party leader Gopinath Rao, however, managed to get a ticket for his wife Latha Gopinatha Rao from Vijayanagar ward. Mr Rao had staged a dharna in front of former minister V. Somanna’s residence, demanding a ticket for his wife.
In Rajagopalanagar, however, party worker H.N. Gangadhar decided to rebel against party leadership for not giving ticket to his wife. Mr. Gangadhar has vowed to ensure defeat of party candidates in Rajagopalnagar and nearby wards.
Interestingly, in Hampinagara ward, party has denied ticket to Chandrashekaraiah and instead opted for a candidate who was defeated in the previous term. Therefore, Mr. Chandrashekaraiah too has decided to contest as an independent.
