The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is set to release its second and final list of candidates for the remaining eight Lok Sabha constituencies in the State on Thursday, has several tricky issues to be resolved when it comes to selection of candidates.
The party is learnt to have finalised the name of the former Minister Shobha Karandlaje for the Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency in the wake of C.T. Ravi withdrawing himself from the race. But the party’s proposal to field columnist Pratap Simha in Mysore has upset local leader and former MP C.H. Vijayashankar, who is keen on contesting from the seat.
According to sources, the party has suggested to Mr. Vijayashankar to shift to Hassan from where the Janata Dal (Secular) national president H.D. Deve Gowda is contesting.
Upset over this, Mr. Vijayashankar has told the party leadership that he would not contest the Lok Sabha election if he was denied ticket to contest from Mysore.
The party’s State leaders, who left for Delhi on Wednesday to attend the meeting of the party central election committee on Thursday to finalise and release the second list of candidates, have reportedly assured Mr. Vijayashankar of discussing the issue with the central leaders. Mr. Simha’s candidature is learnt to have been backed by a prominent central leader hailing from the State.
This apart, the party has to decide on whether or not it should field the supporters of the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa from Tumkur and Bidar. A decision will be taken in consultation with the central leaders. The indications here are that his supporters may get the party’s nod to contest.
Similarly, the BJP is expected to decide the issue related to readmitting the former Minister B. Sriramulu to the party in consultation with its central leaders in the wake of senior leader Sushma Swaraj opposing his re-entry. The party leaders are confident of convincing the central leaders about the need to readmit Mr. Sriramulu.
The party announced its first list of candidates with 20 names on March 8.
