Senior Congress leader and ex Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah found himself in the middle of a controversy after announcing the names of five ‘candidates’ for next year’s Assembly election. The party’s state unit boss, DK Shivakumar, shut down any talk of Siddaramaiah announcing nominees, saying only the All India Congress Committee – the party’s central decision-making body – is authorised to announce names of candidates.
Addressing a crowd in Karnataka’s Koppal district, Siddaramaiah named some candidates and urged people to vote for them next year. “All of your votes must be given to Shivaraj Thangadi in Kanakagiri, Vasavaraj Rayreddy in Yelburga, Iqbal Ansari in Gangavati, Raghavendra Hitnal in Koppal and Ameregowda Byapuri in Kushtagi,” he declared.
Siddaramaiah announcing candidates’ names has strengthened rumors of a rift with Shivakumar, who said earlier that any Congress member aspiring to be nominated could pay an application fee and submit the required documentation, after which tickets would be allotted based on a transparent process.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Shivakumar said, “Nobody, including me, has a right to announce the names of candidates. He (Siddaramaiah) must have said it to encourage (potential) candidates in the region to work hard.”
“There is a procedure in Congress while deciding on final candidates and only AICC is authorised to announce names of contesting candidates,” he said.
The southern state will vote for a new goverment next year, as will a slew of others across the country, including Congress-ruled Rajasthan and some in northeast India.
