New Delhi: Congress is facing a tough task to keep both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar in good humour ahead of the Assembly elections in Karnataka as both the leaders are chief ministerial aspirants.
The party’s Central Election Committee met on Tuesday to finalise the second list of candidates at Congress headquarters in Delhi, where both the leaders were present. The second list is likely to be announced soon. Congress had announced its first list of 124 candidates on March 25.
Clarifying his statement, Siddaramaiah said that “Both he and DK DK Shivakumar are aspirants for the chief ministerial post and the primary responsibility of us is to bring back the Congress to power.”
Earlier, a statement was attributed to Siddaramaiah that he has spoken against Shivakumar which he said is false and misinterpreted.
Shivakumar too said that, “the Congress workers and leaders’ aim is to bring back the party to power.”
The two leaders are said to be at loggerheads over various issues and the rift has widened on the issue of the next chief minister of Karnataka.
Ahead of the Central Election Committee meeting, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The committee will consider the names of candidates who are strong and can win in the election and give a considerable fight to the opponent.”
He said that the committee will prefer a consensus on the names of the candidates.
According to insiders, the selection of candidates for 30 constituencies is crucial as powerful candidates are aspirants for each of the seats. There is a chance of dissidence and leaders are carefully considering the candidatures so that the BJP do not get any advantage. The party will have to announce a list of 100 candidates. The party will have to accommodate leaders who have resigned from other party posts and joined the Congress.
Some leaders have already staged protests and urged that the leaders who worked for the Congress for years must be considered. The party is upbeat as it has not faced any major discord after the announcement of the first list of candidates.
(IANS)
