Curiosity over the candidates to be nominated by the parties in the ensuing Legislative Council elections, where members will be elected from the Legislative Assembly, has heightened as the parties are set to announce names on Monday.
Seven members are to be elected from the Legislative Assembly in the elections to be held on June 3. The BJP, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) are guaranteed with four, two and one seats, respectively. The last date for filing nomination is Tuesday.
The Congress sources said that the list of candidates will be released on Monday as there is a huge demand from a large number of party leaders. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar said that the party has received applications from over 100 aspirants, and the State unit will also give its opinion and the party high command will decide. “We only recommend names. But will not tell the high command any specific names,” he said.
When asked if both he and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah had recommended names jointly, he said: “We have finalised the list after sitting together. How many names can be recommended for the two seats we can win? The recommendation has been made keeping in mind all communities.”
Regarding the candidate for Rajya Sabha election, he said that the high command has been apprised of the ground realities, and the candidate would be selected by them. “JD(S) has declared that it will field a candidate. We will see how many candidates will be fielded by BJP. Based on that we will see how many candidates we can field.”
The JD(S) sources said that it is likely that the party will decide on its candidate on Monday as the choice has been narrowed down to three. The JDLP has also authorised party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda to chose the candidate. “The decision on the candidate for Rajya Sabha will be taken later.”
The ruling BJP is also likely to announce the name of its candidates on Monday.
