The Congress party on Friday held two rounds of meetings to finalise the first list of candidates for the Karnataka Assembly polls.
Sources said the Central Election Committee (CEC), presided by party president Rahul Gandhi, discussed names for over 150 seats out of a total 224 seats in the State Assembly. Sources said the CEC will meet again on Saturday before announcing the first list.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress president G. Parameshwara had earlier said the party was expected to release the first list by Friday evening.
Several issues remain unresolved forcing further discussion at the CEC. Among the sticking points is whether JD(S) and BJP leaders, who had recently joined the Congress, should be given tickets. The CEC also reportedly discussed whether to repeat all the 122 sitting Congress MLAs or try new faces in some constituencies.
The question of the State Congress chief and Chief Minister contesting from two seats is also under review. Mr Parameshwaran has tickets from the Koratagere constituency in Tumkur district and Pulakeshinagar constituency in Bengaluru, where sitting JD(S) MLAs had joined the Congress. Chief minister Siddaramaiah too is keen from his current seat Chamundeshwari in Mysore district and Badami in Bagalkote district.
Another point of debate has been on whether tickets should be given sons and daughters of existing leaders. Though the Karnataka Congress has said there is no bar, the issue is a matter of debate with the central leadership.
