KPCC collected a non-refundable fee of ₹2 lakh from those eyeing general seats in the upcoming polls and ₹1 lakh from SC/ST community leaders.
Actor-turned-politician S Narayan submitted application along with ₹2 lakh seeking ticket from Rajajinagar Assembly segment. (South First)
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar’s decision to collect a non-refundable fee of up to ₹2 lakh from party ticket aspirants seems to have reaped rich dividends.
The party has reportedly collected over ₹20.5 crore from over 1,205 party ticket aspirants seeking to contest the Assembly election in 2023.
Shivakumar had announced that those wishing to contest on party tickets should submit an application along with the fee.
“It is mandatory for all ticket aspirants. The same rule is applicable for sitting MLAs, including Congress Legislative Party leader Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar,” said a party leader, who did not wish to be identified.
Those eyeing general category seats were asked to submit a demand draft of ₹2 lakh along with their application forms, while applicants from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) communities were offered a 50 percent discount.
As many as 330 aspirants are from the SC/ST communities.
Additionally, the application form was priced ₹5,000. As many as 1,301 aspirants have purchased the forms. The party raised ₹20.5 crore in three weeks by introducing the fee.
“All sitting MLAs, including Siddaramaiah, have applied for party tickets by paying the non-refundable amount of ₹2 lakh. Around 330 aspirants from SC/ST, too, have applied,” the party leader said.
“Several women, too, have submitted applications. Nearly 40 percent of the applicants are aged below 50,” he added.
The party has received more than 25 applications — the highest — for the Vijayapura City Assembly segment. Shivamogga City came second with over 20 aspirants. Several constituencies, such as Terdal of Bagalkot, Aurad of Bidar and Shiggaon of Haveri, too, are in demand as at least 10 aspirants each have submitted applications, party sources said.
The party has received applications from all the 224 assembly segments.
Initially, the party had set a deadline of 15 November for submitting applications. As many sitting MLAs, including Siddaramaiah, did not apply within the stipulated time, the party high command extended the deadline by another six days.
“We received over 250 applications in the last two days. We have stopped accepting applications. However, the final decision will be left to the KPCC president. The state party unit chief will scrutinise the applications,” sources said.
Siddaramaiah’s application stood out among others. In his application, he stated, “constituency as per high command decision”.
With this statement, Siddaramaiah has managed to keep the suspense alive on his Assembly segment, amidst rumours of him contesting from Kolar. He now represents Badami in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
However, MLA Yatindra Siddaramaiah, the youngest son of Siddaramaiah, is the only aspirant to apply for the Varuna Assembly segment.
Expectedly, no one, except Shivakumar, has applied for Kanakapura. “Not even a single party worker, other than Shivakumar, has applied for Kanakapura. No one will dare to do so,” a party worker said.
Shamanur Shivashankrappa, 92, is the oldest person to seek a ticket. He has applied for Davanagere South Assembly segment.
Meanwhile, Samyukta Patil, 27, daughter of Basavana Bagewadi MLA Shivananda Patil, is the youngest. She is eyeing Vijayapura City.
Contrary to the Congress high command’s plan to revamp the party with a stringent “one family, one ticket” policy to provide more representation for youngsters, nearly 10 families (leaders and their children) have applied for tickets.
They include Siddaramaiah and his son Yatindra Siddaramaiah, Ramalinga Reddy and his daughter Sowmya Reddy, HC Mahandevappa and his son Sunil Bose, PT Parameshwar Nayak and his son Bhagat, M Krishnappa and his son Priyakrishna, BB Chimmanakatti and his son Bhimasen Katti, Anil Lad and brother Santhosh Lad.
Surprisingly, BV Srinivas, president of Indian Youth Congress, Mohammed Haris Nalapad, president of Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress and Raksha Ramaiah, former president of Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress did not apply.
“It is for the first time that several women party workers have sought the party’s approval to contest the polls. The highest number of applications from women were received from South Karnataka,” a party worker said.
MLAs Sowmya Reddy, Anjali Nimbalkar and Laxmi Hebbalkar are among the sitting legislators who have applied to the KPCC.
Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee (KPMCC) president Pushpa Amarnath, Aiyshwarya Mahadev, secretary of All India Mahila Congress, Kantha Nayak, general secretary KPMCC, are the other women seeking party tickets.
Actors-turned-politicians Umashree and S Narayan are also seeking Congress tickets. They have applied for Terdal and Rajajinagar constituencies, respectively. Umashree was elected from Terdal in 2013.
Businessman-cum-film-producer-turned-politician Umapathy Srinivas Gowda has sought to contest from Bommanahalli.
“We have received over 1,200 applications from party workers. We are convening a meeting of the applicants on 25 November. AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala will chair the meeting,” KPCC working president and MLA Saleem Ahmed said
He added that each penny received will be accounted for. “This fund will be utilised to strengthen the party across the state.”
