BENGALURU: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar called on All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter’s residence here on Saturday. The meeting of the top leaders assumes significance as the Congress is likely to release its second list of candidates for the May 10 Assembly elections soon. According to informed sources, the duo discussed the possible rebellion that may arise due to factionalism in the party and the strategy to quell it.
“Met AICC President Manya @Kharge at his residence today. Many issues were discussed in the wake of the Karnataka assembly elections,” Shivakumar tweeted after the 25-minute meeting. The duo also discussed whether to release the second list before Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Kolar on April 9 to attend the Jai Bharat rally. The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress will sit again under the chairmanship of Kharge on April 5 to finalise the candidates for the remaining 100 seats. Sources said the list is expected to be announced either on April 6 or 7.
The Congress recently released the names of 124 candidates and did not face any backlash. Of the remaining 100 seats, the party has finalised candidates for about 35 seats where there was just one aspirant. “But there is a problem in constituencies where there are multiple candidates,” an informed source told TNSE.
For instance, there is a competition between Santhosh Lad and Nagaraj Chebbi belonging to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar factions, respectively, in Kalghatgi. Similarly, there is opposition from a section of Congress leaders to field Shivakumar’s supporter Ashok Rai in Puttur.
