The Congress, which is set to nominate five persons to the Karnataka Legislative Council, is struggling to balance socio-political equations before finalising the list. Sources said with the term of Governor H.R. Bhardwaj ending on June 24, the government wants to get the list of nominations cleared before that.
The government can nominate five eminent personalities (men or women of excellence) to the Upper House considering their services in various fields, including art, social service, literature and media. It is another matter that governments tend to accommodate party members through these nominations. However, the recommendation made by the Cabinet has to be approved by the Governor.
Weighing the pros and cons before sending the list, the government is likely to include a member from the Christian community, a Kannada actor and a Kannada writer in its list. The thinking is to appease the Christian community by nominating a member from that community. This is to fulfil the party’s commitment to give representation to the community as none was given a ticket in the Lok Sabha polls.
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The names of Ivan D’Souza, Nivedit Alva (son of Margaret Alva), and former MP H.T. Sangliana are doing the rounds. Mr. Alva, who had aspired to contest as the party’s candidate from Uttara Kannada parliamentary constituency, had to make way for Prashant Deshpande, son of Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande.
While the names of Jaimala, Bhavana and Bhavya are under consideration for nominations from the film category, K. Marulasiddappa and S.G. Siddaramaiah figure in the category of writers.
For the remaining three nominations, the party is facing pressure from senior leaders to nominate members of their choice. While Davangere District Congress president K. Abdul Jabbar’s nomination is likely to be continued, the names of V.S. Ugrappa and Iqbal Ahmed Saradagi are being strongly recommended by their “godfathers”.
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Mr. Jabbar was nominated recently for a period of 42 days after the seat had fallen vacant following the resignation of Mumtaz Ali Khan, who was nominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Sources said the former Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge, who was recently elected as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, is keen on Mr. Saradagi’s nomination.
Women Congress members are also putting pressure on the party to nominate one of them. Among them are former Minister Rani Satish and the Pradesh Mahila Congress president Manjula Naidu.