Barring a few, a large chunk of them will be fielded to fight this time too while we also make scope for many new faces, especially the youth, to fight the election this time. That is the spirit of recommendation from the PCC,” said a party leader involved in the exercise. The Congress will also give tickets to the seven JDS rebels who helped the party win a third Rajya Sabha seat from the state last week. While the sons of Siddaramaiah and senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge may make it to the list, the children of Congress leaders Veerappa Moily and Margarat Alva are learnt to be facing some stiff resistance from local leaders.Apart from the traditional focus on its affiliated social segments including OBCs, Muslims, Dalits, the Congress list this time will give some “additional focus” on fielding more candidates from the Lingayat community. This comes in the wake of the state favouring minority status to the Lingayat community –– to which BJP chief ministerial candidate Yeddyurappa belongs to –- and leaving the ball in the court of the central government.

Source: Economic Times April 02, 2018 01:41 UTC