Ahead of assembly elections due in May, the Karnataka Congress on Saturday announced its list of 124 seats for the upcoming polls. While the biggest headline was the announcement of Siddaramaiah contesting the Varuna seat, it is interesting to note that eight Muslim candidates were given tickets in the first list.
Desperate to capitalise on the anti-incumbency factor in the state, Congress is looking to field candidates from minority communities in seats where victory is a sure shot.
Traditionally, Congress has distributed tickets to those in the minority communities in a bid to prioritise ‘social justice’ over winnability. This time, their focus seems to be shifting towards racing back to power in the state.
The eight candidates who have been given a ticket in Congress’ first list include – Rahim Khan (Bidar), UT Khader (Ullal), BZ Zameer Ahmad Khan (Chamarajpet), Kaneez Fatima (Gulbarga North), Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagar), Iqbal Hussain (Ramanagara), Tanveer Sait (Narasimharaja) and NA Haris (Shanti Nagar).
Tanveer Sait had earlier announced that he would be retiring and will not contest in the upcoming polls. However, he has been given a ticket from Mysuru’s Narasimharaja constituency.
The Number Game
Last week, Muslim leaders in the party reportedly met Congress general secretary in charge of the state, Randeep Singh Surjewala. They demanded tickets for community members in proportion to their population.
The party’s Central Election Committee met on March 17 and deliberated on each seat.
In its first list, the Congress has given tickets to 32 from the influential Lingayat community. 22 seats were given to candidates from the Scheduled Casts and five from the Bhramin community.
Currently, the Congress has 68 MLAs in the 224-member House. The state screening committee has already prepared a list comprising names for most of the constituencies. More than 1,300 applications for the 224 seats were received by the party.
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