Karnataka Legislative Council poll: Vote by region' gets Congress its 4
BENGALURU: In a strong bid to thwart any chance of foul play during the just concluded elections to the Legislative Council on Friday, the ruling Congress party successfully adopted a strategy to allot votes of MLAs from different regions to candidates selected from that particular region.
Apart from this, the party strategy to cast only its first preference votes for its four candidates paid off. Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah's gamble of going out to get the backing of JD(S) rebels and independents paid rich dividends with party candidates securing as many as seven surplus votes.
A source claimed that AICC general secretary, Digvijay Singh himself closely monitored the allocation of votes and even sternly directed party MLAs to vote only for party candidates. "The party whip was also issued to each MLA asking him to vote in favour of a particular candidate," a senior legislator observed.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle after the Congress Legislature party meeting here, a senior leader observed that the party took steps to avoid last minute confusion such as getting Congress party suspended MLA, A. S. Patil Nadahalli and disgruntled party MLA, Santhosh Lad on board. "The party has been working closely with JD(S) rebels as well as independents as a result, Congress candidates were able to secure seven extra votes, which augers well for the the party's bid to win all three seats in the Rajya Sabha polls on Saturday."
The source added that the party took steps to divide MLAs on the basis of region instead of picking and choosing MLAs for each of the party's four candidates. "For instance, for Allum Veerabhadrappa, party allotted MLAs from Hyderabad-Karnataka while for former minister, R. B. Thimmapur, MLAs were allotted from Mumbai-Karnataka. A similar strategy was adopted for the other two candidates - Veena Acchaiah and Rizwan Arshad as well," the source added.
Digvijay Singh: It’s time to look ahead at the 2018 polls
All India Congress Committee(AICC) general secretary, Digvijay Singh said on Friday that he would convene a meeting next month to get inputs from Congress MLAs on drawing up a road map for the return of the party to power in the 2018 polls. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior Congress leader quoted Mr Singh saying that there was need for party legislators to regroup, rework and restrategise to win the Assembly polls in 2018. "Over a period of time, we have taken several things for granted, but now it is time for us (MLAs) to rework as each MLA had got nearly two years left and in this period, party leaders have to work hard and ensure a Congress victory in 2018 as well." he reportedly explained to party leaders. Karnataka is the only big state where the Congres continues to be in power in the country after the recent defeat in the Assam and Kerala polls. The party is therefore keen to ensure it does not lose this state too.
