The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Congress will win bypolls on its own'

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Saturday, Mar 19, 2011
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‘Congress will win bypolls on its own'

Special Correspondent

Sounding the poll bugle:AICC secretary Sanjay Nirupam and KPCC president G. Parameshwara at a press conference in Bangalore on Friday.

BANGALORE: All India Congress Committee secretary, in-charge of Karnataka and MP Sanjay Nirupam on Friday said the Congress is strong enough to give the Bharatiya Janata Party a fight in the byelections to the Channapatna, Jagalur and Bangarpet Assembly constituencies on its own.

Mr. Nirupam, who held three rounds of talks with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara, Union Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa and other leaders here to finalise the list of candidates for the bypolls, however, said he was not ready to disclose the party's strategy. Asked whether his party would make use of the signature campaign by the dissident BJP MLAs to remove Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, he said that “we are not like the JD (S)”.

The Congress leader, flanked by Mr. Muniyappa, the former Union Minister M.V. Rajasekharan, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Motamma, D.K. Shivakumar, MLA, and Vinaykumar Sorake, MP, said that if any party makes a proposal for an alliance with it, the same would be placed before the high command for its decision.

Candidate selection

Senior Congress leaders, who discussed the selection of candidates for the Assembly byelections reportedly left it to Mr. Muniyappa and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, MLA, to finalise candidates for the Bangarpet and Jagalur (Reserved) constituencies respectively.

Sources close to Mr. Nirupam said that the candidates for all the three constituencies, including Channapatna, would be announced after the high command's approval.

But the selection of the candidate for Channapatna is not easy, as there are many contestants for the seat. The unresolved differences between Mr. Shivakumar and the former MP Tejaswini Gowda will pose a serious problem in selecting the “winnable” candidate, which was reflected at a meeting at Channapatna held by the former Legislative Council Chairman and MLC V.R. Sudarshan. It was here that Ms. Tejaswini demanded that “money bags” in the party should not be given ticket.

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