1 woman, 99 men: Sonia Gandhi rejects list of Cong candidates for Karnataka polls

Bengaluru: The suspense over who will make it to the list of Congress candidates for elections to the Legislative Assembly got longer with party president Sonia Gandhi reportedly seeking a recast with the inclusion of more women and minorities 'among the probables', ahead of the next meeting on Saturday. At a meeting of the Central Election Committee held at her residence on Thursday, Sonia Gandhi reportedly queried members of the screening committee headed by former CM of Goa, Luizinho Faleiro, about the fact that a sole woman figured in the list of 100-odd names of potential candidates drawn up by them. Besides, she found that adequate number of seats were not earmarked for minorities. Some more additional parameters for the selection process turning away those who lost thrice as well as margin of over 25,000 votes, and the norm of one ticket for a family were suggested at the meeting. Sources said the current political scene in Karnataka, the strategies adopted by other parties, and electoral tactics to be adopted by Congress leaders were also Chamundeshwari & Varuna please: Siddu Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah reportedly sprang a surprise at a meeting of the screening committee by expressing his desire to contest from two Assembly constituencies Varuna and Chamundeshwari. The members told him that it would be impossible for them to take a call on his demand, and chose to leave the decision to the party president. The list will be released only after the next meeting of central election committee on March 30. The screening committee met again on Thursday night to make changes to the list. Even before the Congress high command clears the list of candidates for the assembly elections, Indian Youth Congress state president, Rizwan Arshad who is a ticket aspirant, has reportedly resigned from the post, protesting against the party ignoring his demand. Sources said he sent his resignation by e-mail to the Youth Congress national president. This resignation episode is shrouded in mystery as Arshad has not made any public statement yet. However, his close associates called up the media and informed them about his resignation. Attempts to reach Arshad failed as he did not attend telephone calls nor did he reply to the SMSes sent to him. Arshad is keen on contesting from Narasimharaja constituency in Mysore, now represented by Congress MLA, Tanvir Sait. The party rejected his request on which he demanded Hebbal constituency in Bengaluru city which was also rejected. The state election committee, of which Arshad is a member, has recommended his name for Chamrajpet, sources said. Upset over being sidelined, Arshad put in his papers but sources said he is only trying to bring pressure on the central leadership.