Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reportedly dismissed the names of non-Kannada candidates, suggested by senior Congress leaders, for the Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka.
According to the sources, the Chief Minister expressed his opinion at a meeting conducted under the leadership of AICC President Rahul Gandhi at New Delhi on Tuesday. “As the Assembly elections are round the corner, it is not suitable to choose a non-Kannada candidate for the seat,” he said as per the sources.
Names of AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi and Sam Pitroda, who was close to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were suggested by the Congress leaders for the four seats of Rajya Sabha from the state, elections for which will be held on March 23.
According to the sources, Congress High-command wants to select former Lok Sabha speaker Meera Kumar. The ruling Congress can select 2 candidates with the majority. The opposition BJP can select one candidate and for another post, competition is there between Congress and JDS.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah has requested to give prominence to Dalit, minority and Lingayat candidates, but Rahul Gandhi has not yet expressed his decision, said the reports.
BJP has recommended the name of businessman and social workers Rajeev Chandrasekar and Vijaya Sankeshvara, while JDS has referred the name of Mangaluru-based businessman B M Farooq. Pro-Kannada organizations have already demanded the political parties to select Kannadigas to the Rajya Sabha.
