The Congress, which was reportedly struggling to convince ministers and lawmakers to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka, now finds itself dealing with an abundance of candidates and a public feud in the prestigious constituency of Kolar. Five legislators from the party, including a minister, have issued threats to resign due to pressure from the former MP in the constituency, who is advocating for his son-in-law to be nominated as the candidate.

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Congress could only select 1 candidate in Karnataka 

The tussle has exposed factionalism within the Congress in Karnataka, a state where the party is aiming for success this time around. In the previous Lok Sabha elections, the party succeeded in electing its candidate in only one of the 28 seats in the state. Additionally, it lost Kolar, a constituency it had historically won almost consistently since the inception of the first general elections in 1952, except for one instance.

Who issues the threats to other members? 

Since 1991, KH Muniyappa has been the winning candidate in the constituency. Muniyappa, who currently serves as the food and civil supplies minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, is now advocating for his son-in-law Chikka Peddanna to receive the party ticket. Despite the party not officially announcing the candidate yet, three MLAs from Kolar district, along with a minister, and two members of the legislative council (MLCs) have already issued threats to resign over this potential decision.

The objection arises from the fact that if Mr. Pedanna receives the ticket, it would ensure representation for communities classified as Scheduled Castes (SC)-Left in Karnataka rather than the SC-Right, which the legislators are advocating for.

Who are the MLAs threatened to resign?

The MLAs who have threatened to resign are G Manjunath (representing Kolar Assembly constituency), KY Nanjegowda (representing Malur constituency), and MC Sudhakar (representing Chintamani constituency), while the MLCs are Anil Kumar and Naseer Ahmed. Mr. Sudhakar serves as the state’s higher education minister, and Mr. Ahmed holds the position of political secretary to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

While the MLCs met with the Legislative Council chairman and displayed their resignation letters to journalists, the MLAs were planning to meet with the Assembly Speaker.

Mr. Sudhakar expressed, “I have all respect for the party high command, but here we want others to get representation. That is the only issue. Since some people are trying to put pressure on the high command to secure the seat, we thought there was no point continuing. We would rather sit at home than continue”.

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