During the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting held at the AICC Headquarters in New Delhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, accompanied by party leader Sonia Gandhi, finalized candidates for 16 Lok Sabha segments in Karnataka on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
Among the notable candidates are the children of five state Cabinet ministers who secured tickets for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. These include Sowmya Reddy, daughter of Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy (Bangalore South); Priyanka Jarkiholi, daughter of Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi (Chikkodi); Mrinal Hebbalkar, son of Women & Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar (Belgaum); Samyukta Patil, daughter of Agricultural Marketing Minister Shivanand Patil (Bagalkot); and Sagar Khandre, son of Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre (Bidar).
However, the committee is yet to finalize candidates for the remaining five seats, including Kolar, Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur, Chamarajanagar, and Bellary constituencies, as several contenders are lobbying for tickets.
In Gulbarga, the AICC president’s constituency, Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is set to contest. Meanwhile, for Davangere, Congress has nominated Prabha Mallikarjun, daughter-in-law of senior MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa, whose husband SS Mallikarjun is the mines & geology minister.
Former Rajya Sabha member M V Rajeev Gowda secured the Bangalore North ticket, and Mansoor Ali Khan, son of former Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson K Rahman Khan, will contest from Bangalore Central.
While the CEC has made progress in candidate selection, final decisions remain pending for contentious seats like Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bellary, and others, where multiple contenders are vying for nominations.
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