Ticket tussle: Karnataka Congress MLAs threaten to resign

Aksheev Thakur

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New Delhi, March 29

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar have pacified the five lawmakers who threatened to resign if the son-in-law of state Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa was given the Lok Sabha poll ticket from Kolar.

The matter would be taken up with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, sources said.

Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar, Kolar MLA Kothur Manjunath, Malur MLA KY Nanjegowda and MLCs Naseer Ahmed and Anil Kumar said they were against the Congress fielding Muniyappa’s son-in-law KG Chikka Peddanna.

Siddaramaiah said the matter would be resolved shortly and he would speak with Kharge and Rahul. “We have not announced the ticket for anyone from Kolar. A collective decision will be taken. Everyone will have to toe the party’s line,” said Shivakumar.

Sudhakar alleged that his father suffered at the hands of Muniyappa when he entered politics. “We raised the issue with the high command earlier too but as he was a central minister, our words were not respected. He aligned with my opponents. I disassociated from the party and contested as an Independent,” he said.

Last week, Muniyappa held a meeting with top officials of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee where he claimed that he had been assured of the ticket for his son-in-law. “I will wait for the party high command’s order. Whatever decision comes will be acceptable to me. If the ticket is given to a person who does not win, it is useless. I have faced many elections and know how to win,” said Muniyappa.