MLC election is necessary as the term of office of 25 MLCs is going to end in January. (Representative)
Bangalore:
The announcement of candidates by three major political parties for next month’s Legislative Council elections in Karnataka has triggered a “nepotism debate”.
Parties leveled off on the issue as the ruling BJP on Tuesday accused the opposition of nepotism in the selection of its candidates. Congress retaliated and said that BJP should first see its list.
Biennial elections to the Karnataka Legislative Council for 25 seats from the constituencies of 20 local authorities, due to the retirement of the existing members, will be held on 10 December.
The BJP said, “In JD(S) eight members of a family are sharing power, but the Congress party is a bit lenient on the issue. From the post of AICC national president to the selection of candidates for the Legislative Council elections, the Congress has Nepotism is respected.” Said in a tweet along with media reports on family ties of some of the Congress candidates for MLC elections.
According to Congress sources and reports, many of its candidates for the council elections are relatives of senior party leaders.
Among the candidates, Channaraja Basavaraj from Belagavi is brother of Hottiholi MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar, R Rajendra from Tumkur is the son of former party MLA KN Rajanna, S Ravi from Bangalore Rural is a relative of state Congress president DK Shivakumar, Sunil Gowda Patil from Bijapur senior MLA and He is the brother of former minister MB Patil.
Sources said that Congress candidate from Raichur Sarna Gowda Patil is the nephew of MLA Amregouda Patil, Bhimrao B Patil from Bidar is the brother of MLA Rajasekhar Patil.
Mantar Gowda is the son of former Congress leader and former minister A Manju, who is now associated with the BJP. However, after this development, the BJP today relieved Manju of all the responsibilities of the party.
Responding to the BJP’s allegations of nepotism, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar said, “…Let them (BJP) first take a look at their list and say whom they did in Coorg (Kodagu), Dharwad and others. Tickets have been given. Places. Let them face the mirror first, we’ll talk later.”
Among the BJP candidates, Pradeep Shettar from Dharwad is the brother of senior party leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, while DS Arun from Shimoga is the son of former Legislative Council Speaker DH Sivashankarmurthy. Suja Kushalappa, who is the candidate from Kodagu, is the brother of Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan.
Meanwhile, in the JD(S), another member of its patron and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda family is entering electoral politics, with his grandson Suraj Revanna finding a place in the party’s list of seven candidates for the MLC elections. .
Sooraj’s candidature in this election marks the entry of the eighth member of the Gowda family into politics. If he wins this election from Hassan, the family will have members in all the four major houses- Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and Legislative Council.
MLC election is necessary as the term of office of 25 MLCs is going to end on January 5, 2022.
Today is the last date for filing nomination papers and scrutiny will be held tomorrow.
According to election officials, a total of 121 candidates have filed 215 nominations.
The last date for withdrawal of candidature is November 26 and the counting of votes will take place on December 14.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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