Cong finalises around 100 candidates for Karnataka, some MLAs to be dropped
New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) The Congress has finalised about 100 candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections where it has decided to go solo.
The party's Central Election Committee met on Friday evening and deliberated on each seat. The list is likely to come out soon.
Congress' state chief D.K. Shivakumar said that the the party will not go in any alliance in the state.
Sources said that some sitting MLAs may not get ticket.
The Congress currently has 68 MLAs in the 224-member house and the state screening committee already prepared a list comprising names for most of the constituencies.
The committee has recommended single names for more than 100 constituencies and two or three names for other constituencies.
State leaders have urged the party should also give proper representation to sub-castes of SCs/STs and Other Backward Class.
The Congress has received more than 1,300 applications for the 224 seats and Shivakumar said that "the people of the state have made their mind for change as they are fed up of corruption of the BJP government".
Congress in Karnataka is strategising to field a formidable candidate against Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in Shiggaon constituency to ensure his defeat, sources said
The party will soon take a call on fielding former minister Vinay Kulkarni against Bommai. The calculation is that Kulkarni belongs to Panchamasali sub caste of Lingayat community while Bommai belongs to Sadar sub-caste.