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 the suspense. Congress managed to take a neutral stance and not bow to pressure from either KH Muniyappa or KR Ramesh Kumar’s factions. Siddaramaiah succeeded in resolving the dissent in Kolar but reprimanded the five legislators for threatening to resign.