Infighting in the Congress over ticket for kith and kin of leaders came to the fore on Tuesday, with a senior leader and former MLC Vaijanath Patil throwing a tantrum in public over the denial of an MLC ticket to his son, and calling Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G. Parameshwara names.
The incident happened soon after a press conference called by Dr. Parameshwara at the Congress office here. Mr. Patil, who was in the same hall, stood up at the end of the conference addressing Dr. Parameshwara as a “sycophant”.
“Both the Chief Minister and KPCC president had assured my son, Vikram Patil, of a Council seat to contest from the Northeast Graduates’ constituency. However, they backtracked because I objected to the violation of norms under Article 371 (J), giving special status to Hyderabad Karnataka region, in the notification called for appointment of 6,000 data entry operators,” Mr. Patil told The Hindu. “I am hurt by this attitude and am of the opinion that senior leaders are sidelined in the party.”
Pointing out that the sons of former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge were given ticket, he said: “I am not opposing that. While Mr. Singh’s two sons have got representation, Mr. Kharge’s son has been made a Minister. But when it comes to my son, they have betrayed us after assuring one. Moreover, I have not even been given the reason on why they rejected my son.”
Party workers upset
The general trend among party leaders lobbying and succeeding in getting ticket for their relatives in the past has upset party workers. “No matter how hard we work and remain loyal to the party, our efforts will never be recognised as long as ticket is being given to the kith and kin of senior leaders,” said a Youth Congress member, who recently quit the Congress for this reason. “It is not just ticket, even most of the office-bearers in KPCC are either the sons, daughters, or brothers of senior leaders,” he said.
It is learnt that many, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, are trying to field their sons/daughters in the forthcoming Assembly polls.
Winnability criteria
Speaking at the press conference, Dr. Parameshwara said the party is preparing a list of winnable candidates. “We are also obtaining the performance reports of the present MLAs, based on which a decision will be taken whether to give them another chance to contest the Assembly polls,” he said.
