Rahul Gandhi's fine comb to select Karnataka Congress candidates

Ahead of the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi has been devoting long hours at the Central Election Committee meetings where potential names were hotly debated before being approved, reports ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi: Sensing that the Congress has a fair chance of winning the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, former party chief Rahul Gandhi is taking great care to select the nominees. According to party insiders, Rahul has gathered personal information on potential candidates in all 224 assembly seats and the party’s prospects there.

Armed with this information, which reached him via several levels of local leadership, Rahul has been devoting long hours at the Central Election Committee meetings where potential names were hotly debated before being approved. "This is a high-stakes election for Rahul. He has been playing a very active role during the CEC meetings and discussed each seat at length. He came with proper background reports on the seats and the potential candidates,” a CEC member told ETV Bharat on condition of anonymity.

Of late, the CEC has met a couple of times but the party has announced only two lists comprising 164 seats so far, which is roughly two-thirds of the total 224 seats. "The remaining seats would be announced around April 10. We are all waiting for the third list. The delay is because we have a large number of leaders in the state and ticket distribution is very crucial," said a CEC member.

Senior state leader BK Hari Prasad acknowledged the party took the risk of breaking a tradition and announcing candidates earlier than its rivals BJP and JD-S. “It is the first time that we have announced tickets early. We will get an advantage because of that. Our people are on the job. In fact, we had started the election process long back and took feedback on potential candidates from the secretaries besides local-level leaders. A survey of seats was also done,” Hari Prasad told ETV Bharat.

Congress insiders are elated over the number of ticket aspirants this time and attributed it to the party’s chances of winning. According to an AICC functionary, as many as 1,400 aspirants paid an official fee of Rs 2 lakh each to apply for a party ticket. “They have sensed the public mood,” said AICC secretary BM Sandeep Kumar, who claimed the Congress had a good chance of winning the polls but refrained from putting a number to the Congress tally.

“Rahulji had given us a target of 150 seats. We are all working for it. I am hopeful the party will get a simple majority in the House,” Sandeep Kumar told this channel. “Our rivals BJP and JD-S are yet to decide candidates,” he said. Though Congress leaders are confident over the May 10 polls, there is apprehension over the role of former ally JD-S, whose leader and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda has publicly rejected the idea of having any truck with the grand old party.

“There is no question of allying with the JD-S. They will only divide the anti-BJP votes. We are fighting the polls on our own strength. We have been positioning the polls as a BJP vs Congress fight and will take advantage of the anti-incumbency against the Bommai government,” said Sandeep Kumar.