Bengaluru: The ruling Congress has adequate number of MLAs to elect four members to the Legislative Council in polls on Friday, but top leaders including general secretary in charge of Karnataka Digvijay Singh and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah are leaving nothing to chance, allocating votes to each of the four candidates.
Sources in the party said the leaders are working overtime to ensure the victory of four candidates— R.B. Thimmapur, Rizwan Arshad, Allum Veerabhadrappa and Veena Achaiah.
The leaders are keen to prevent a repeat of the ignominy suffered when Iqbal Ahmed Saradagi, former Member of Parliament and confidant of veteran leader M Mallikarjun Kharge, lost to an independent in elections to the Council a couple of years ago.
The leaders have asked party MLAs to stay put in Bengaluru from Thursday to Saturday evening.
On Thursday, Mr Siddaramaiah held talks with each MLA and reminded them to back the official candidates. He also enquired with them about issues in their respective constituencies.
He also hosted dinner for party MLAs on Thursday night but it was kept a secret. Though information was shared with the media earlier, official retracted, stating no dinner was scheduled. Party sources, however, confirmed that the leader hosted dinner at a private hotel.
Mr Siddaramaiah and other party leaders would meet these MLAs again on Friday and at that meeting, they would be told the name of the candidate whom they should support.
Sources said the party strategists were a bit worried about those MLAs, who could not make it to the state cabinet, playing spoilsport. “That’s why we are extra careful about our strategy,” remarked a leader.
