Krishna hits out at Cong selection process

Making no secret of the fact that he is hurt,former Union minister and senior Congress leader S M Krishna on Saturday attacked candidate selection process in his party for the Karnataka Assembly elections.

At an event organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and Bangalore Reporters Guild,Krishna said he had taken active part in candidates selection process since 1972,adding the selection panel then used to have 15-16 members who used to engage in serious discussions. He said the panel this time had some 60 members,including himself,which he termed as unwieldy. I was very surprised to see the list with nearly 60 names. Can we finalise candidates with such a big panel? Thats why I did not go to the meeting, Krishna said. The list left me cold.

Asked if the Congress has failed to encash the fixed deposit good work done by him when he was chief minister between 1999-2004,he said,Its cleverness,intelligence and political astuteness to reap the dividends of good work done by erstwhile leaders. Those who say its not required,its their loss. Its not a loss to those who earned it.

The former CM refused to predict which party would come to power. Its difficult to expect peoples verdict. People dont share secret as to who they will vote for. Sometimes,polls go wrong because people who are approached give misleading information, he said.