The Kolar District Congress Committee has sent only one name to the party’s poll panel as the candidate for the Kolar Lok Sabha constituency — Union Minister of State for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises K.H. Muniyappa.
There cannot be another Congress leader to challenge his candidature given the fact that Mr. Muniyappa has represented the constituency for six terms in a row. As he is also the incumbent Member of Parliament from Kolar, a ticket to him is a foregone conclusion as per the yardstick of the Congress high command.
However, the other two major players, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Bharatiya Janata Party, are yet to zero in on their nominees. The number of aspirants from the JD (S) and the BJP has also been a cause for delay. Both the parties are said to be weighing the options on fielding strong candidates to put up a tough fight against Mr. Muniyappa. Kolar is a reserved constituency for the Scheduled Castes.
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Retired IAS officer Siddaiah, who recently joined the JD(S), is among the three prominent aspirants for ticket, the others being B.C. Mylarappa, former Registrar of Bangalore University, and zilla panchayat member S.B. Munivenkatappa. The former Minister K. Srinivasa Gowda, confirmed that these three names had been recommended to the leadership.
Incidentally, even before the JD (S) has announced the candidate, Mr. Mylarappa has commenced his campaign in the region through flex boards and posters to introduce himself to the electorate. Festivals have come in handy for him to extend his greetings to the people.
D.S. Veeraiah, MLC, who put up a challenge against Mr. Muniyappa in the 2004 and 2009 elections, is the front runner for the BJP ticket while the former MLA M. Narayanaswamy is also stated to be keen on contesting the election.
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According to sources, while Mr. Narayanaswamy has the backing of senior BJP leaders Ananth Kumar and R. Ashok, Mr. Veeraiah enjoys the support of the former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda. The BJP is also stated to be contemplating on fielding the former Minister Arvind Limbavali in the event of failing to bring about an understanding between Mr. Narayanaswamy and Mr. Veeraiah.