Ahead of Karnataka polls, Cong leader pitches for ‘BJP model’ of ticket denial to veterans

Jarkiholi’s remarks, which created ripples in the KPCC, have come at a time when in the run-up to the state Assembly elections, scheduled for early next year, rivalries within the state Congress have flared up with leaders affiliated to various factions vying with each other in seeking tickets from various constituencies for the polls.

For the last several months, the Karnataka Congress has been gripped by an internal tussle between KPCC chief DK Shivakumar and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah over their chief ministerial bids in the event of the party’s return to power in the polls.

Jarkiholi, who is an MLA from the Yamakanmardi constituency in Belagavi district, said, “A systematic strategy is essential for parties such as the Congress to win elections”, adding that “the BJP has denied tickets to sitting MLAs in the recently concluded polls in Gujarat, where it won a resounding majority.” He however felt “it was difficult to implement it in the state party unit”, saying that “The Congress gave tickets to seniors despite knowing that they would lose. We also should give tickets only to those assured of a win. It should be the only criteria.”

The state Congress has been pulling out all the stops ahead of the elections. During his visit to Karnataka, his home state, on Saturday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge proposed a 10-point programme for the development of the state, including Rs 5,000 crore for development projects, an industrial policy for the region, one lakh posts for the youth, a recommendation to set up institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and houses for all families.

Kharge also emphasised that unity would be crucial for the Congress’s bid to wrest the state from the ruling BJP, urging his party colleagues to learn voter outreach from the BJP and connect with voters.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, the BJP gave tickets to new faces in the state’s coastal belt, which had paid off with the party getting a huge majority in the region. The Congress had then come to power through a post-poll alliance with the JD(S) whose leader H D Kumaraswamy took over as the CM. But, within 14 months, the BJP managed to topple this dispensation to form its own government by engineering defections.