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Karnataka polls: With BJP list still not out, Congress asks ‘Does Nadda think…’
Congress has already announced 166 candidates for the Karnataka assembly elections in two separate lists.
Congress MP Randeep Surjewala on Thursday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the candidates' list for Karnataka assembly elections, wondering why the saffron party could not declare its candidate even on a single seat to date. Flanked by former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and Congress's state unit chief DK Shivakumar, Surjewala asked BJP president JP Nadda whether he was scared that the announcement of candidates will lead to infighting in the party.
“Congress has announced most of the seats, but the BJP could not declare a single seat. I want to ask JP Nadda, why are you scared? Do JP Nadda, PM Modi, Amit Shah and CM Bommai think that announcement of seats will lead to issues in the party?” Surjewala said at a press briefing in New Delhi.
Responding to Surjewala's remarks, Karnataka minister K Sudhakar said the delay in announcement is part of BJP's strategy and asserted that naming a candidate was not important for a “party built on the strong cadre.”
“I want to ask Surjewala, why are you so bothered about our list? Are you not confident about your members or candidates? Why are you waiting for our candidates' list to be announced?” the BJP leader shot back.
“It's part of our strategy, we know when to announce. For us, a candidate is not important. Our party is built on strong cadre. We have three-four people in a constituency and anyone can win that constituency because of our strong and robust cadre-based party system.”
The Karnataka Congress on Thursday released its second list of 42 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections scheduled to be held on May 10. Last month, the party announced 124 candidates in its first list.
On the other hand, the BJP is yet to release its first list, which, according to Union Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, might be announced on April 7.
Speaking at Karnataka’s Belagavi last Friday, Joshi said, “The party is currently in the process to take the opinions of different people before allotting the tickets. Mostly on April 6 or 7, the first list will be out. The state unit is working hard to give tickets to deserving candidates.”
