Bengaluru: The Congress on Thursday decided to contest 21 of the 25 Legislative Council seats going to polls this month end. This decision was taken after a meeting between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar with AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh at New Delhi.
Barring Hubballi- Dharwad which has two seats, both held by the party now, the Congress has decided to field a single candidate in other districts which have two seats.
However the party has not announced the list yet. The last date for filing nominations for the Council polls is December 9, the party may not announce the candidates till then, sources explained. The Council elections are scheduled to take place on December 27.
According to reliable sources, former chief minister Dharam Singh's son, Vijay Singh could be the party candidate for Bidar. Kolar is where the party is facing a problem over the selection of candidate after sitting member Nasir Ahmed refused to contest. Source said the party may decide to field Anil Kumar in the seat bypassing the claims of other aspirants.
Among the sitting MLCs, those who are unlikely to get tickets this time include former minister from Kodagu T. John.
Senior party leader and former Union minister Oscar Fernandes seems to ensured that his loyalist and incumbent MLC Pratap Chandra Shetty gets the ticket for the Dakshina Kannada seat.
In Tumakuru, sitting MLA KN. Rajanna's son Rajendra is likely to get the ticket in the Youth Congress category. He could pip law and parliamentary affairs minister T.B. Jayachandra's son, sources said.
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