E-Paper
Cong fields Kharge's son for K'taka bypoll
The son of Union Minister for Labour and Employment M Mallikarjun Kharge is among the five candidates chosen by the Congress to contest the August 18 assembly by-election in Karnataka in as many seats.
The son of Union Minister for Labour and Employment M Mallikarjun Kharge is among the five candidates chosen by the Congress to contest the August 18 assembly by-election in Karnataka in as many seats.
The party has also announced that sitting MLA M Krishnappa's son would contest the polls.
While Priyanka M Kharge will contest Chitapur (Reserved) seat vacated by his father on his election to Lok Sabha, Priya Krishnappa will take on Minister for Housing V Somanna in Govindarajanagar constituency in Bangalore City.
Krishnappa represents neigbouring constituency Vijayanagar and is considered a political foe of Somanna, a Lingayat leader.
The Congress high command has also cleared the names of TK Yogesh (Chennapatna), S Jayanna (Kollegal Reserved) and CM Lingappa (Ramanagara), a seat vacated by former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy after he successfully contested Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat.
The polls in Chennapatna and Govindarajanagar were necessitated after C P Yogeshwar and Somanna quit Congress and defected to the BJP.
Kollegal is facing a by-poll as Dhruvanarayan of Congress was elected to the Lok Sabha from Chamarajanagar.
KPCC President R V Deshpande defended the party's decision to award tickets to leaders' sons, saying "loyalty, commitment and winnability has been the yardstick in awarding tickets to leader's sons."
