Bengaluru: A day after the Vokkaliga dinner politics involving energy minister D.K. Shivakumar, lobbying for the seven Legislative Council seats and two Rajya Sabha seats gained steam in the ruling Congress party, with several groups belonging to various castes and communities camping in New Delhi to seek representation for their respective communities.
The names of at least 45 prominent leaders including former Union ministers, P. Chidambaram, Oscar Fernandes, C. Narayan Swamy and Jairam Ramesh are doing the rounds for two of the four Rajya Sabha seats which have falen vacant while former ministers like C.M. Ibrahim, A.H. Vishwanath, B.L. Shankar, Prof. B.K. Chandrashekhar and film actress Bhavana are in the reckoning for the Legislative Council seats.
It is reliably learnt that a group of women leaders and Lingayat leaders have already met party leaders in New Delhi to push for their own nominees, while another group of Vokkaliga community leaders is gearing up to visit Delhi in a day or two to launch a campaign in favour of their community leaders.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader observed that even though no guidelines have come from party central leaders as yet, it is generally observed that AICC vice-president, Rahul Gandhi wants party leaders to follow certain rules while nominating leaders to one of the Upper Houses.
"Mr Gandhi had so far not allowed defeated MLA or MP candidates to make a return through one of these Houses, the second rule is the one-man-one post norm. Therefore, it would be a challenging and arduous task for Chief Minister, Siddarmaiah to ensure that Mr Gandhi approves his list which is filled with nominees like Mr Ibrahim and Mr Vishwanath," the source explained.
In the Council poll, the Congress party can ensure the victory of four of its nominees and can also nominate three members under the Art, culture and social work category. The party can therefore increase its present tally by seven seats if its calculations go right.
