Karnataka: Ticket sale allegations put Congress in a spot

New Delhi, April 6: Allegations of party tickets being sold on Karnataka assembly seats have created serious concern for the

and its leadership has been forced to review its second list of candidates for the May 5 polls.

The party, in an unprecedented move, have decided to send a fresh team of observers to about 20-25 constituencies in the state to probe into the allegations and gather details.

The current crisis in the party is, however, not the first time. The party leadership had also received similar complaints just ahead of the 2008 assembly elections in Karnataka. The then party general secretary Margaret Alva, who is currently the Governor of Rajasthan, had alleged sale of party nominations.

Party supporters aspiring to get tickets have been protesting outside the party headquarters in Bangalore along with their supporters for the last five days.

The Congress has already announced its first list of candidates comprising 177 names. The second list is expected to be announced anytime. The Karnataka assembly has 224 seats in total.

The central leadership mostly accommodated loyalists of senior leaders in the first list and did a balanced act to avert domination of any particular leader, group or faction.

Only a few outsiders have been given tickets after party vice-president Rahul Gandhi said that rebels or discards should not be accommodated in the list. A senior party leader said factors like social justice and winnability were taken into consideration while selecting the candidates.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi will campaign in five districts of Karnataka for the upcoming elections.

The BJP and JD(S), the other major players in the state politics, have also announced their first list of candidates.

OneIndia News