Congress Chief Kharge Approves Candidature Of Jagdish Shettar, 2 Others For Karnataka MLC Bypolls

Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge approves the proposal for the candidature of Jagadish Shettar, Tippannappa Kamaknoor and NS Boseraju to contest the by-elections to the Karnataka Legislative Council.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal for the candidature of Jagadish Shettar, Tippannappa Kamaknoor and NS Boseraju to contest the by-elections to the Legislative Council of Karnataka to be elected by the MLAs. Earlier, the governing Congress in Karnataka nominated former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, State Minister and Congress national secretary N S Boseraju, and Tippannappa Kamaknoor for the state's MLC election scheduled to be held on June 30, news agency PTI reported. The resignations of Baburao Chinchansur, R Shankar, and Laxman Savadi, who ran in the Assembly elections, left three MLC seats empty. The Karnataka MLAs will choose the three new MLCs.

However, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the southern state is yet to nominate its candidates for the impending bypolls.

Laxman Savadi, Baburao Chinchansur, and R Shankar resigned from their MLC seats in Karnataka before the assembly elections because they were denied tickets by the BJP.

Shettar served as chief minister of Karnataka for ten months, from July 12, 2012 until May 13, 2013. He was also the Leader of the Opposition and the Assembly Speaker.

Former CM Shettar was also among the BJP leaders who left the party after failing to get a seat. He eventually joined the Congress party, which provided him with a ticket from his Hubballi - Dharwad Central seat.

The six-term MLA received 36.31 percent of the vote and lost to BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai in the assembly elections. The Congress party allegedly promised him a major job, and he is now one of the MLC candidates.

The Congress received 135 seats in the Karnataka assembly election results revealed in May, while the Bharatiya Janata Party received 66 seats out of 224 constituencies. The Janata Dal (Secular) received only 19 seats.

Congress leader Jagadish Shettar had lost the Hubli-Dharwad Central seat to BJP candidate Mahesh Tenginakai, in assembly polls this year. He had accused the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) of using the money factor and pressure tactics in the Karnataka Assembly elections to defeat him. Shettar also alleged that the saffron party distributed Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 to voters as a means to influence their voting preferences.