K'taka polls: Cong likely to finalise first list of candidates today

The Congress is likely to finalise the first list of candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls today, its state-unit president G Parameshwara said.

The Central Election Committee (CEC), presided over by party chief Rahul Gandhi, held first round of discussion in the morning and will deliberate again in the evening and finalise the first list.

"The selection process is on. We will meet again in the evening to finalise the candidates. Most probably, we will finalise the first list today," Parameshwara told reporters after the meeting.

There is a possibility of releasing candidates for about 136 constituencies out of 224 in the state, the sources said.

The CEC is believed to have discussed whether to give tickets to all the 122 sitting Congress MLAs, 7 JD(S) and 2 BJP and other independent leaders who joined the party fold recently, they said.

The sources also said that the KPCC chief has sought two tickets -- one from the Koratagere constituency in Tumkur district, the seat which he had lost in 2013, and the other is the Pulakeshinagar constituency in Bengaluru, from where JD(S) MLA joined the Congress recently.

Even state chief minister Siddaramaiah wants to contest from two seats and is demanding tickets, one from his old Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysore district and the other Badami in Bagalkote district, where sitting Congress MLA B B Chimmanakatti was pursuaded to vacate the seat, they said.

Interestingly, Siddaramaiah, KPCC chief and several other senior leaders from Karnataka are seeking tickets for their children and the party is weighing all these issues while finalising the list, the sources said.