JOIN USThe aspirants are leaving no stone unturned to secure the ticket. Majority of the Congress legisaltors elected from the constituency belong to Bhovi caste. The only exception is B P Venkatamuniyappa (Adi Karnataka caste) who was elected on BJP ticket. Hence it is being argued that the ticket should be given to a Bhovi community candidate.
However, the BJP has stormed into the hither to Congress bastion in the recent panchayat polls. Of the seven ZP constituencies, Cong holds three - Betamanagala, Budikote and Parandahalli. It stood second in Doddur, Karanapanahalli, Kamasamudra and Kyasamballi. There are charges that the internal bickering led to poor performance at these constituencies.
Contenders
Former TMC president K M Narayanaswamy, zilla panchayat member Ramachandra, J C B Narayanappa, former legislator C Venkateshappa, Belaganahalli Munivenkatappa have been strong contenders for the Cong ticket.
Ramachandra contested twice but was defeated owing to internal squabble. Venkateshappa contested once as an indepdent, and elected twice from Congress. He created a record by securing 75,000 votes.
The Congress gave ticket to M Narayanaswamy in the last Assembly elections. He defected to the BJP necessitating bypoll.The names of K M Narayanaswamy and Ramachandra are doing rounds. He has close contact with politicians at the national level and has money power too. Several Congmen support his candidature.
Another contender Ramachadnra was a taluk panchayat president. Majority of his supporters are now members of gram and taluk panchayats. He enjoys the support of former taluk panchayat president Bharati Bheemanna, former zilla panchayat member Muniraju.
Moreover, Ramachandra is a stauch supporter of Union Minister of State for Railways, K H Muniyappa. It is also said he favours C Venkateshappa as was evident in his speech on Thursday. The final choice, however, is yet to be out.