Karnataka polls: Congress scraps 'one family, one ticket' rule, falls back on dynastic politics in crucial battle

Bangalore: Dynasty politics is not going to leave the Congress and the Congress is not going to leave dynasty politics anytime soon. The party followed the “ one family, one ticket” policy in last year’s Assembly elections in Punjab and in Uttarakhand. However, it’s not willing to take that route in the crucial Karnataka election (scheduled for 12 May) despite state chief G Parameshwara’s suggestion to stick to the rule. “In electoral politics, the winnability factor is most important and the party cannot ignore somebody just because he or she is a dynast or has an MLA, MP, or minister for a relative,” said Santosh Lad, Karnataka minister for labour and Ballari district in-charge. His cousin Anil Lad is also a Congress MLA from Ballari. [caption id=“attachment_4261971” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi. PTI[/caption] In December, Parameshwara mooted the “one family, one ticket” formula for the Karnataka polls as many Congress leaders, including chief minister Siddaramaiah, were demanding tickets for their family members. The chief minister shot down the idea immediately. Tragically, his elder son Rakesh, who was planning his political debut this election, died of a heart attack in Belgium in June 2016. After the incident, Siddaramaiah’s second son Yathindra, a pathologist, reluctantly decided to carry his father’s legacy forward. Yathindra is almost certain to contest from the chief minister’s current constituency, Varuna, while his father will contest from  Chamundeshwari constituency  in Mysuru. Interestingly, the BJP is likely to field chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra from Varuna.

However, Dr Sandeep Shastri, a political analyst and pro-vice chancellor of Jain University, said, “Parameshwara’s suggestion met with huge opposition from within the party, not just from the chief minister. Also, I don’t think the party leadership endorsed this suggestion.”

The Congress office bearers claim to have received over 1,700 applications seeking party tickets in the state. The first list is likely to be announced by 15 April. Other Congress leaders in queue Siddaramaiah is not the only Congress leader who’s sacrificing his current seat for his son. PWD minister Dr HC Mahadevappa has expressed his desire to the party high command to move to CV Raman Nagar in central Bengaluru so that his son Suneel Bose can contest from his constituency, T Narasipura, in Mysuru district. Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter Sowmya Reddy, vice-president of the Congress state youth wing, is a likely contender for Jayanagar constituency in Bengaluru. Reddy represents the adjacent BTM Layout Constituency. The worrying factor for her is that former Union minister K Rahman Khan is lobbying for his son Mansoor Ali Khan to contest from the same seat. Santosh Jayachandra, son of Karnataka law minister and seven-time MLA TB Jayachandra from Sira in Tumakuru district is eyeing the Chikkanayakanahalli constituency in the same district. Similarly, Tumakuru’s Madhugiri MLA KN Rajanna is trying to get a ticket for his son R Rajendra from Tumakuru Rural constituency. Kolar MP KH Muniyappa’s daughter Roopa Shashidar is also set to enter the electoral race from KGF constituency. Chandra Singh, the son-in-law of the former chief minister N Dharam Singh is a strong contender for Bidar South. Congress veteran Margaret Alva, who has made a comeback to the party fold, has been demanding a ticket for her youngest son Nivedith Alva from Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district. During the 2008 state Assembly polls, Alva hit out at Prithviraj Chavan, Digvijaya Singh, and Vayalar Ravi by alleging that party tickets were being sold. Former Union law minister Veerappa Moily, who was trying to get a ticket for his son Harsha Moily from Karkala constituency, landed in trouble last month because of a tweet. “INC needs to solve money in politics. We can’t afford to have road contractors and their nexus with the state PWD minister determine how candidates are selected for the upcoming Assembly elections,” read a tweet from Moily’s unverified account. Moily’s son also posted the same tweet and was issued a notice by the state Congress. With his hopes of getting a ticket for Harsha dashed, Moily  said, “My son and I have decided that he will not contest the election this time. We have decided to work for the victory of Congress party in Karkala and all other places.” State urban development and Haj minister R Roshan Baig, the sitting MLA in Shivajinagar Assembly constituency in Bengaluru, was asking the Congress to nominate him to the Rajya Sabha and give his son Rehan Baig a ticket from his vacated seat. However, he failed to get the party’s backing on the matter. Both father and son have now filed nomination papers for Shivajinagar. Former railway minister and Congress veteran CK Jaffer Sharief’s grandson CK Abdul Rehman Shariff is reportedly out of the race. The Congress stalwart was lobbying for Hebbal constituency in central Bengaluru for his grandson. In the last election, Rehman lost to BJP’s YA Narayana Swamy by a margin of 19,149 votes in Hebbal. Housing minister M Krishnappa is set to contest from Vijayanagar constituency, while his son Priya Krishna, an MLA, is seeking re-election from Govindaraj Nagar constituency in Bengaluru. Shamanuru Shivashankarappa and his son SS Mallikarjun will likely contest from their current constituencies, Davangere South and Davangere North, respectively. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge will also seek re-election from Chittapur in Kalaburagi. ‘One family, one ticket rule’ not to Congress’ advantage in Karnataka Congress rebel Shehzad Poonawalla is of the opinion that giving tickets to dynasts and members of the same family sets a wrong precedence. “Today, Rahul (Gandhi) is implementing two principles: ‘Loyalty and dynasty over merit’ and ‘promotion without performance’. This has demoralised not just the ordinary worker but has put off young voters between 18-35 years. They hate this ’entitlement raj’. In Tripura, he (Rahul) was campaigning with some former royal family princeling — Congress got zero. In Delhi, he preferred a non-performing asset like Ajay Maken (who stole the legacy of Lalit Maken) — Delhi gave him a big zero!” Poonawalla said.

Poonawalla added that the policy was implemented in a few states because the Congress leadership wanted to “undercut a powerful political family or legacy” so it would not be “a future challenge for the Gandhis or the local leader they were backing.”

Shastri added that dynastic politics is not limited to the Congress alone. “It is a malaise in all political parties across the country. The reason behind this is that political parties in India lack internal democracy and decision-making is done by a small coterie of leaders. Nepotism and dynastic politics are the byproducts of this phenomenon,” he said. Political observers are of the opinion that in Karnataka, where the Congress is fighting a do-or-die battle ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, it is doing right by focussing only on the winning criteria. “At the end of the day, the winnability factor counts more, since it’s going to be so crucial for the immediate future, ie the next year. The Congress needs to be flexible and relax these rigid rules,” said senior journalist TS Sudhir. With the Congress’ first list of candidates due soon, it will be interesting to see how the party accommodates the dynasts. The author is a Bijapur-based freelance writer and a member of  101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.