Alva, Jaffer Shariff’s kin denied tickets

Roshan Baig, who had resigned from the S M Krishna Cabinet in 2004 following the arrest of his brother Rehan Baig for his alleged involvement in the Telgi stamp paper scam, was given the ticket from Shivajinagar.

Former Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna is unlikely to contest election as the party fielded D C Thammanna from Maddur constituency from where the former Karnataka Chief Minister was tipped to contest. Krishna’s confidante D K Shivakumar was given ticket from Kanakapura.

Former Deputy CM Siddharamaiah who had left the JD(S) to join the Congress was given ticket from Varuna. Many of Siddharamaiah’s supporters including H S Mahadevprasad and H C Mahadevappa figured in the list. Karnataka Youth Congress chief Krishna Byregowda, who drove Rahul Gandhi during his recent tour to the state, will contest from Byatarayanapura.

The Congress list has, however, left many senior party leaders seething in anger. “Ticket seekers are beggars. People who can give tickets have a right to deny them. But these are double-standards. This policy should be followed at the national level,” former Union minister C K Jaffer Shariff told The Indian Express. His grandson Abdul Wahab Shariff was denied ticket by the party.

“If a farmer wants his son to be a farmer, a doctor wants his son to be a doctor, and an engineer wants his son to be an engineer, what is wrong if a politician also wants his son to follow in his footsteps? The only sin he has committed is that he is a politician. Only those who have worked in the constituency and have credibility among the people ask for tickets. Maybe we don’t have credibility,” said Shariff. Margaret Alva’s son Nivedit was also denied a ticket.

Senior party leader from Karnataka and AICC media cell chairperson Veerappa Moily also disagreed with the decision to deny tickets to relatives of leaders. “Case to case, there is a difference. We cannot generalise things. We cannot deny party tickets to somebody just because they are somebody’s relatives. If they have worked in a constituency, they deserve it,” Moily said.

R L Jalappa’s son J Narasimhaswamy was, however, given ticket from Doddaballapur; Narasimhaswamy was an MLA in the last Assembly. Former CM V Gundu Rao’s son Dinesh Gundu Rao, a two-term MLA, was given ticket from Gandhi Nagar.

ADGP Subhash Bharni, who had resigned last month and was seeking a Congress ticket from T Naraspur, was in for disappointment. Additional Commissioner of Police K C Ramamurthy who had taken voluntary retirement and had actually already started campaigning in Sarvagnanagar was also denied a ticket.