14 out of the 24 Karnataka candidates announced by Congress are kin of party leaders. The choices seem entirely based on money, muscle and influence of leaders in seats.
Congress leaders at the CEC meeting. (Supplied)
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress’ Karnataka unit appeared buoyant following its impressive win in the 2023 Assembly elections.
However, some party insiders are now hinting at concerns over the candidate selection process for the Lok Sabha elections, suggesting that family ties and financial influence played a significant role in the process.
The Congress high command has declared candidates for 24 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka, with four yet to be finalised and announced.
The party announced nominees for seven seats in the first list and 17 other seats in the third overall list.
In a surprise, the Congress appeared to have opted to field the children of five Cabinet ministers in five seats across Karnataka.
The party has also given most of the overall Karnataka tickets to the kin of senior party leaders for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Following the announcement of candidates, dissent has broken out in two seats — Bagalkot and Davanagere.
In both seats, disgruntled leaders have announced that they would support the party but made it clear that they were upset over the candidate selection process.
The party leaders claimed that some of the ministers’ children who got tickets were not even on the shortlist of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
“The ministers’ children were considered only because of the money and muscle power they enjoy when compared to the common party workers and other aspirants,” claimed a leader.
The Lok Sabha polling in Karnataka will take place in two phases. The first phase is scheduled for 26 April, during which the constituencies of South Karnataka will cast their votes.
The polling for the second phase is slated for 7 May, during which the segments of North and Central Karnataka will vote.
Among the candidates the Congress has declared for Karnataka, at least 14 nominees are relatives of senior leaders.
The current perception is the party chose to give tickets to the relatives of its leaders despite having efficient aspirants in some seats.
The Congress has fielded leaders and workers without any political family background only in the 10 seats.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s brother and incumbent MP DK Suresh will be contesting from Bangalore Rural.
Minister for Mines and Geology SS Mallikarjun’s wife Prabha Mallikarjun will contest from Davanagere, while Minister for Sugars and Textiles Shivananda Patil’s daughter Samyuktha Patil has been fielded from Bagalkot.
Minister for Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar’s son Mruna Hebbalkar is contesting from Belagavi. Her brother Channaraj Hattiholi is a Congress MLC.
Minister for Public Works Satish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka Jarkiholi has been fielded from Chikkodi, while Minister for Transports Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter and former MLA Sowmya Reddy is contesting from Bangalore South.
Minister for Forest, Ecology, and Environment Eshwar Khandre’s son Sagar Khandre has been fielded from Bidar.
Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Madhu Bangarappa’s sister Geetha Shivarajkumar, who is the wife of Indian actor Dr Shivarajkumar, will contest from the Shimoga seat.
In the Haveri-Gadag seat, the party has given a ticket to Anandswamy Gaddadevarmath, who is the son of former Shiratti MLA GS Gaddadevrmath.
AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani has been given a ticket from Gulbarga (SC).
It may also be noted that Kharge’s son Priyan Kharge is the minister for information technology and biotechnology in Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet.
Congress MLA Raghavendra Hitnal’s brother Rajashekar Hitnal has been fielded from the Koppal seat.
Mandya nominee Venkataramegowda, known better by his social media alias Star Chandru, is a relative of Congress MLA Sharat Bachegowda.
Hassan’s nominee Shreyas Patel is the grandson of former minister Puttaswamygowda.
While the Congress looks to finalise the candidates for the remaining four Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, the party is expected to field more relatives of its senior leaders.
The party is yet to announce candidates for the Bellary, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, and Chamarajanagar seats.
Sources told South First: “In Bellary, Minister for Youth Empowerment and Sports B Nagendra is making efforts to get a party ticket for his brother B Venkatesh. Sandur MLA E Tukaram is also an aspirant, but at the same time trying to get a ticket for his daughter Sowparnika Tukaram. However, the party is said to have finalised the ticket for Tukaram.”
The sources added: “In Kolar, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies KH Muniyappa is said to be demanding a ticket for his son-in-law Chikkapeddanna, as is veteran politician and former minister Ramesh Kumar for himself.”
They also said: “In Chikkaballapur, the party is likely to give a ticket to former minister and MLC MR Seetharam’s son Rakshak Ramaiah.”
They added: “The party is keen to field Minister for Social Welfare Dr HC Mahadevappa in Chamarajanagar, but he is demanding a ticket for his son Sunil Bose.”
On why it prioritised the kith and kin its leaders as candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress claimed that it was money and muscle power.
Following the release of the second list, the party witnessed dissent in the Bagalkot and Davanagere segments.
Hungund MLA Vijayananda Kashappanavar’s wife Veena Kashappanavar and Insights IAS founder Vinay Kumar were aspirants for Bagalkot and Davanagere, respectively.
Vinay has chosen to continue to support the Congress, whereas Veena announced she would announce her future course of action after two days.
On condition of anonymity, a Congress leader told South First: “The ruling party [at the Centre] is targeting the principal Opposition party with issues like parivarwaad (dynasty politics), which it is also not adhering to. In such a time, the Opposition party has to counter it instead of providing fodder.”
He added: “In a few seats, the announced candidates were not even in the picture when the process to choose nominees began. The party chose to give tickets to the kith and kin of its leaders because they gave assurances of looking after the election expenses.”
The leader continued: “The high command chose to field these candidates over common party workers considering their money and also muscle power.”
He elaborated: “Those ministers and leaders who got tickets for their children, wives, and other relatives enjoy good clout and dominance in their respective seats. The party believes that this would increase their chances of winning in the Lok Sabha elections.”
(Edited by Arkadev Ghoshal)
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