Congress names CM Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra for MLC polls; ex-minister C T Ravi among BJP picks

The seven candidates announced by Congress are Science and Technology Minister N S Boseraju, state party working president Vasanth Kumar, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s son and former MLA Dr Yathindra, Siddaramaiah’s political secretary Dr K Govindaraj, former MLC Ivan D’Souza, former Karnataka State Minorities Commission chairperson Balkees Banu and the party’s Kalaburagi district president, Jagdev Guttedar.

The Congress has also announced former state Youth Congress chief Basangouda Badarli as its candidate for the by-election to the seat vacated by former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who rejoined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The three candidates announced by the BJP are general secretary and former minister C T Ravi, sitting MLC N Ravikumar and former MLA M G Mule. The JD(S), which can nominate one candidate, is expected to announce its pick in the next few hours.

The election for 11 seats are necessitated as the terms of six BJP, four Congress and one JD(S) MLCs will end on June 17. Based on their strength in the Assembly, the Congress can field seven candidates as it has 133 MLAs and the BJP, with 66 MLAs, can field three candidates. The JD(S) has 19 MLAs and can therefore nominate one candidate.

For the seven seats, more than 300 Congress leaders and workers had applied, state president D K Shivakumar said recently. The party’s state unit shortlisted 30-35 strong contenders and the high command finalised the list following a meeting with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar last week.

This will be the second MLC election in Karnataka in June. The first will be held on June 3, when six teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies will elect MLCs.