He said all the sitting legislators of the party, except the eight rebel MLAs who have been suspended for voting against the party candidate during the Rajya Sabha elections last year, will be given tickets to contest again. Kumaraswamy said one of the suspended legislators K Gopalaiah has sought pardon for violating the whip and the matter is being considered by the party’s disciplinary committee.

He said candidates are being selected based on their rapport with the electorate, on how they should respond to the problems faced by the people, among others. Training programmes will also be conducted for potential candidates on how to face the polls and the election campaign, he added. The names will be finalised only after the approval of the core-committee.

Kumaraswamy said JD(S) is in the process of consulting local party functionaries on finalising candidates for the Nanjangud and Gundluplet Assembly constituencies, byelections for which are likely to be announced soon.