Cong not averse to 'family politics'

The party is said to be going by the winnability of candidates

The Congress on Saturday said there is no rule preventing children of ministers from contesting polls. However, the party has shied away from fielding children of prominent politicians for the Assembly elections. 

KPCC president G Parameshwara, while interacting with the media here, neither ruled out nor confirmed giving tickets to kith and kin of senior politicians. He said there was no restriction as such on “family politics”.

Some of those who were waiting for the tickets included Priyank Kharge, son of Mallikarjun Kharge, Dr Ajai Singh, son of Dharam Singh, MP; Roopkala, daughter of Union Minister K H Muniyappa, B K Shivaram, brother of B K Hariprasad, Rehman, grandson of Jaffer Sharief, and Ali Khan, son of Union Minister K Rahman Khan.

Senior politician Shamnoor Shivashankarappa and his son Mallikarjun are both waiting for tickets.

Sources in the party said Priyank, Ajai and Shivaram “may get their names cleared in the second list. The party is going by the winnability of candidates rather than considering them just as children of senior politicians.”

The sources further said the selection for the 47 seats had already been made. Fearing rebellion, the party has staggered the announcement. A day after the first list was announced, there was hardly any protest in Bangalore.

As the days advance, there will be no time for anybody to stage protests. Instead, the focus will be on campaigning, they added.

The party is walking on a tight rope when it comes to selecting candidates for some constituencies like Hiriyur, Malavalli, Bangalore South, Jayanagar and Hebbal among others. Though the party has made its choice, only the announcements have been delayed, it is said.

Natural to rebel

Parameshwara said it is but natural for the party to face rebellions as there are too many ticket aspirants. MPs from various states have come as observers to visit the districts to quell rebellion.

The observers’ task is to hold discussions with rebels to persuade rebels not to contest against official nominees and also not to work against the party candidates, he said.
He said there is too much demand for tickets because the Congress is all set to come back to power. There is nothing unusual about the clamour for tickets.

Asked what the party would do in case rebels remain in the fray, he said: “We will take suitable action in case coaxing does not help. At any cost there will be no room for any indiscipline.”

Parameshwara said the names for the remaining 47 constituencies would be announced once AICC president Sonia Gandhi “returns to India. She is expected in Delhi in a couple of days.“

He denied any confusion regarding the selections made. “Social justice and good conduct have been kept in view while making the selections. There has been good response from many quarters regarding the selections we have made. This is the reason as to why there are no protests in front of the KPCC office or elsewhere on Saturday,” he added.
All the sitting MLAs except a couple of them have not been accommodated this time. For instance, Amaresh, MLA from Mulbagal, has not been given ticket because he is facing a court case, he added.

Sold tickets

When his attention was drawn to complaints that the party “has sold” tickets, Parameshwara said there was no room for such things.

“There was transparency in selection of candidates at all stages. Still if someone has doubts, they can straight away give complaint to the AICC. They can also lodge complaints against me,” he said.

He also said the dates for campaigning by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh are yet to fixed.