2018 poll: Karnataka Congress in please all mood, will deny tickets to only 6 MLAs

Bengaluru: The Congress party's tentative plan to deny tickets to several non-performing MLAs may not materialise in the coming Assembly elections.

The AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal had earlier said that the party would carry out a survey before distributing tickets following which some local leaders had claimed that at least 35 incumbent MLAs may not get party tickets in the coming elections.

However, Mr Venugopal himself maintained that winnability is the criteria for allotting tickets. "A political party has to be pragmatic and can't be idealistic during polls. So, if a MLA is sure to win due to factors like caste, his non-performance has to be condoned," a senior leader said.

Going by the assessment, the party may not field six or seven Congress MLAs due to various reasons: Mr Ramakrishna who is from Kalaburgi Rural and Manohar Tahsiladar who represents Hanagal constituency may not enter the fray due to poor health. Kagodu Thimmappa, the revenue minister, may field his daughter if he decides to hang up his shoes. Mr Shivamurthy Naik, a MLA from Raichur. seems reluctant to contest while former minister, P.T. Parameshwara Naik may shift to Mayakonda.

There are rumours about Shamanoor Shivashankarappa being denied the ticket. However, sources claimed that considering his loyalty to the party and his contributions, the choice would be left to him.

"Apart from these six or seven MLAs, we do not think others would be denied tickets. The party cannot take the risk," sources explained.