Gowtham's candidature was announced after five Congress legislators threatened to resign if the son-in-law of Minister KH Muniyappa, was nominated to contest from Kolar.
A faction led by former minister Ramesh Kumar had recently met CM Siddaramaiah and DyCM DK Shivakumar over Kolar seat candidacy. (Supplied)
Amid intense internal discontent, Congress on Saturday, 30 March, finally announced KV Gowtham as its Kolar Lok Sabha candidate, ending imbroglio within the party over the issue.
With Goutham as its candidate, Congress has managed to take a neutral stance and not bow to pressure from either KH Muniyappa or KR Ramesh Kumar’s factions.
“The Central Election Committee has approved the candidature of Shri K.V. Gowtham as Congress candidate to contest the ensuing general elections to the Lok Sabha from 28- Kolar SC Parliamentary constituency of Karnataka,” AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal said in a press release today.
Congress nominates KV Gowtham to contest from 20-Kolar(SC) Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka pic.twitter.com/om5Gihoaul
— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2024
Gowtham’s candidature was announced after five Congress legislators, including minister MC Sudhakar, on Wednesday, 27 March, threatened to resign if Chikka Peddanna, the son-in-law of Minister for Food and Civil Supplies KH Muniyappa, was nominated to contest from Kolar.
Muniyappa’s daughter Roopa Shashidhar is already an MLA.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar — also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief — had called a meeting to pacify the disgruntled leaders of Kolar and Bagalkot on 28 March.
Siddaramaiah succeeded in resolving the dissent in Kolar but reprimanded legislators for threatening to resign.
MC Sudhakar, who was part of the meeting, later told South First: “The chief minister and the deputy chief minister held talks with the party leaders over finalising the candidate for the Kolar seat. They knew everything about the issue.”
He added: “After deliberations, we left it to them to finalise a winnable, suitable, and efficient candidate for the Kolar seat, which will be acceptable to all. We have expressed our opinions.”
On their resignation, he noted: “In the interest and wellbeing of the party, we have decided not to take any decision in haste that could possibly hurt the party’s image. We are not going to repeat it and regret what we did.”
The party then chose Gowtham as its candidate for Kolar seat, ignoring the adamant stand of Muniyappa. With this, Congress has announced candidates in all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka.
“Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, General Secretary KC Venugopal, and myself had separate and long discussion with KH Muniyappa emphasising the fact that in the interest of a winning strategy for Karnataka Congress, we need to build a consensus around a SC Left candidate for Kolar Parliament,” Randeep Singh Surjewala, AICC General secretary for Karnataka, also shared in a post on X.
Surjewala said that all Congress MLAs have agreed to abide by the candidate decided by Central Election Committee and party leadership, bereft of any personal differences.
Gowtham, hailing from Kolar, is the president of the Bengaluru Central District Congress Committee. He is the son of former Bengaluru Mayor KV Vijay Kumar.
The All-India Congress Committee on Friday, 29 February, declared nominees for three of the four remaining parliamentary seats — keeping the Kolar seat on hold — for Karnataka.
The BJP reserved the Kolar seat for its ally JD(S), which has declared M Mallesh Babu as its candidate.
Of the two-phased elections in the state, the first phase is slated for 26 April, and the second phase is scheduled for 7 May.
(Edited by Shauqueen Mizaj)
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