All three parties have been screening their candidates to find a ‘winner’ in every seat while keeping a hawk eye on the candidate list of rival parties. The Congress and JDS have released their first list, while the ruling BJP is yet to make an announcement.
The JDS was the first to announce its list of candidates in 93 seats followed by the Congress which released its list of 124 candidates for the election to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly.
Cautious BJP
The BJP has been cautious in its selection process to ensure that disgruntled candidates do not cross over to the opposition or leaders whose candidates have been denied tickets cause a rebellion. Three BJP MLCs — Ayanur Manjunath, Baburao Chinchansur, and Puttanna — resigned from the Upper house and joined the Congress.
Further reports of rumblings within the party, especially in the Belagavi region, have been another major cause of concern for the party. Ramesh Jarkiholi, the man who is said to have engineered the mass defection of 18 MLAs from the Congress and JDS to the BJP — causing the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition in 2019 — has been demanding tickets for two of his close associates, Mahesh Kumatahalli and Shrimanth Patil. The BJP is not keen on giving it to them, especially Athani, where they are farrowing fielding former deputy CM and MLC Laxman Savadi who Kumatahalli (when in the Congress) defeated in 2018.
The BJP has devised a special format that is similar to the US election model of primaries and hopes it would help reduce the hurdles in the selection process.
By this format, over 25,000 BJP functionaries have cast their votes in favour of one or a maximum of three top candidates of their choice.
BJP party insiders say the vetting and selection have been extremely elaborate and thorough as the high command does not want any form of flare-ups that could cause embarrassment or spoil the party’s electoral chances. The BJP also claims that the ticket selection has been done democratically and the delay has been deliberate as it would give the selection committee ample time to choose the best candidate.
“There are some big-ticket leaders from other parties who will be joining the party soon and will also increase our prospects as they are strong leaders in their constituencies. The party also wants to ensure that there is no defection,” said a Karnataka BJP leader.
This is not the first time that the primaries format has been experimented with as Congress had tried it in the 2014 parliamentary elections.
State BJP vice-president Nirmal Kumar Surana explained that the party had asked the BJP office bearers in each of the 224 assembly seats to put three names of their choice in a secret ballot box. The office bearers were also asked to keep in mind that their suggestion of candidates should also focus on winnability as a factor.
The polling, which was conducted last week, saw 39 organisational committees traveling to 31 districts of Karnataka to ensure the process proceeded smoothly. Over the weekend, the district core committees shortlisted the names of the candidates based on the ballots. After detailed discussions between BJP’s central observer Arun Singh, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa and Karnataka BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, the exhaustive list of candidates is being filtered to a final one which is selected to be sent for scrutiny to the BJP Parliamentary Board with their recommendations.
“This process was to ensure that everyone has a say in the selection process and we also get an idea of how the incumbent MLAs have worked at the ground level. We have also received names of young, energetic, and new faces who have been working hard and could prove to be a winning card for the party. The party is looking at fielding some fresh faces as well this time,” explained a senior BJP functionary.
Bommai said the first list of the BJP for the May 10 Assembly polls will be finalised by April 8.
Congress’ Conundrum
The situation in Congress is no different from the BJP.
Having announced its first list of 124 candidates quite comfortably, the party’s CEC has been struggling to finalise the final 100 seats as the pressure from the Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar camps has been building up on the central leadership. Congress’ screening committee headed by senior partyman Mohan Prakash along with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar among others pored over hundreds of names to draw up a list.
In the CEC meeting held on Tuesday, a list of 50 candidates has been finalised, Congress sources told News18.
In constituencies where the Congress feels its chances are 50-50, two or more names of probable candidates have been suggested so that the Central Election Committee (CEC) can take the final call.
“At the end of the day’s meeting in Delhi, there were names of two candidates each for the remaining 50 seats and so the CEC has asked the senior leader to come up with a final list with just one name. That will be decided in the next 24-48 hours,” said a senior Karnataka Congress leader to News18.
Just like the BJP, the Congress is also facing opposition from supporters of leaders who have crossed over to the party from the BJP and JDS. Local leaders in Shivamogga sought party workers to take an oath not to work in favour of candidates who crossed over to the party hoping to get tickets.
Another example that highlights the differences between the Siddaramaiah-Shivakumar camps is the Pulakeshinagar assembly segment in North Bengaluru. Incumbent MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy is a Siddaramaiah loyalist but Sampath Raj, the former Bengaluru Mayor, is Shivakumar’s choice of candidate for the seat. Murthy has threatened to resign from the party if denied a ticket and contest as an Independent.
The Congress is also keenly waiting to see the list of BJP candidates to make their final move, say party sources.
JDS’ Dilemma
The JDS is a troubled house during this election season. The first to have announced the list of 93 candidates, the party leadership is at a crossroads over the ‘hot seat’ of Hassan.
Bhavani Revanna, the wife of HD Revanna and sister-in-law of HD Kumaraswamy, has been seeking a ticket from the seat. However, Kumaraswamy is insistent on not giving it as he has finalised another candidate, HS Swaroop. The JDS could announce a total of three lists, say political analysts, as it would need to give the other candidates time to campaign while trying to resolve the party cum family feud.
The JDS was dealt a strong blow as it saw the exit of three MLAs — Shivalinge Gowda, SR Srinivas, and AT Ramaswamy. Srinivas and Gowda joined the Congress and Ramaswamy moved to the BJP.
With the hopes of becoming kingmaker again, the JDS also wants to ensure it keeps its flock together and its eye on the prize — the seat of the chief minister — in case of a hung verdict.
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