Polls: Cong to appoint observers for selection of candidates

Bengaluru: The state Congress on Thursday decided to appoint observers for selecting candidates to contest the upcoming Assembly elections.

A panel of KPCC observers will be appointed to each of the 30 districts. They will tour the districts, hold consultation with the local leaders and shortlist probable names. The process is likely to go on for about a month's time, sources said.

The decision to appoint the observers was taken at a meeting chaired by AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal at the party office. Besides, the party is simultaneously conducting survey of each of the Assembly constituencies to assess the ground situation. The final decision on the candidates will be made based on the outcome of the survey and recommendation to be made by the observers, the sources said.

The sources said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has informally told close to 80 sitting Congress MLAs that they will be given the ticket to contest the polls and that they have been asked to make preparations in their constituencies.

Speaking to reporters, KPCC president G Parameshwara said the party will take an appropriate decision on 'one-family, one-ticket' norm, which the chief minister had recently rejected. He claimed that he has no differences with the chief minister. "We had no differences in the past seven years (Parameshwara has been the KPCC president for seven years), and we will also take all decisions together," he added.

On speculation that some leaders may quit the party and join the BJP, he said one or two of them may go. But it is not true that many are going. Similarly, there are some leaders from the Opposition parties planning to join the Congress.

This apart, Venugopal, who held a series of meetings with party leaders from Belagavi and Kalaburagi divisions, is learnt to have warned them that he would not tolerate any indiscipline.

Any differences among the leaders should be sorted out in the party forum, he said.