Kharge regrets ruling coalition fielding extra candidate

New Delhi, May 26 (UNI) Karnataka Pradesh Congress Chief M Mallikarjuna Kharge today regretted the ruling coalition fielding an extra candidate while they could have easily accepted outgoing Legislative Council Chairman V Sudarshan's candidature unanimously for the forthcoming biennial elections to Karnataka Legislative Council on June one.

Talking to reporters, Mr Kharge who was here to attend the meet on National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the state said that the Congress and state's former Deputy Chief Siddaramaiah's AIPJD faction together had the numbers, if the ruling alliance were to give due respect to the outgoing Chairman in the interest of democratic traditions.

However the ruling party had fielded an extra candidate giving rise to the speculation that they were interested in 'horse trading'. The ruling alliance have only four extra seats compared to Congress and Siddaramaiah's combined votes of 16 votes in favour of Mr Sudarshan. "The presence of fourth nominee of the JD (S) Mr Amarnath Shetty has spoiled the atmosphere,'' he lamented.

Karnataka Assembly can elect 11 MLCs but with both the sides vying to get an extra seat not backed by adequate numbers, there are 12 candidates in the fray. This means either Mr Sudarshan or Mr Shetty will make it to the Legislative Council.

Asked about the discontent among the Congressmen belonging to two major communities Lingayats and Vokkaligas, Mr Kharge said the party went by the logic that none of the retiring members were from the major communities.

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