Congress puts Madikeri seat on hold, say sources; Party originally gave Mehul Choksi lawyer HS Chandramouli ticket

Two days after the Congress released its first list of 218 candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly election, word is streaming in that the party has put its contentious pick for the Madikeri seat on hold. The lawyer for absconding businessman Mehul Choksi, HS Chandramouli, had originally been given a ticket by the party to contest the election from Madikeri. [caption id=“attachment_4413783” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Sources within the Congress were quoted on Tuesday afternoon by ANI as saying that the Madikeri seat had been put on hold after reports that the candidate Chandramouli had been Chowksi’s — a key accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud case — lawyer. When the first list was released, Supreme Court advocate and chief minister Siddaramaiah’s legal advisor Brijesh Kalappa was reportedly annoyed at having lost his seat to a newcomer. When contacted by Firstpost in light of Tuesday’s development, Kalappa declined to comment. The Congress list, released late on Sunday evening , left out six constituencies — Shantinagar, Nagthan, Melkote, Kittur, Raichur and Sindgi, but notably featured Chandramouli’s name and constituency. While as many as 12 sitting MLAs did not get tickets, the Congress list features 15 women among the 218 candidates announced.