It’s gone from bad to worse for the Congress and the BJP. The two parties are struggling to keep their flock together ahead of the March 28 civic polls. Upset party workers, who were refused tickets, decided to contest as independent candidates on Monday, the last day of filing nominations.
Disgruntled candidates have threatened to split the votes. It’s worse in the Congress which is facing rebellion in at least 50 wards while the BJP has the problem in over 20 out of the total 198 wards under the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) jurisdiction.
Both the Congress and BJP have fielded candidates in all 198 wards, while JD(S) is contesting from 195.
There was tension at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office on Queen’s Road where aspirants had gathered with their supportersfor ‘B’ forms to file nominations.
Sensing trouble, some top leaders decided to skip the officesand even switched off their mobiles to avoid being harassed by the rebels.
“The rebels are in the race not to win but to ensure defeat of the official candidates,” said a senior Congress leader. The BJP has its own share of problems. The party released its second list of 33 candidates earlier in the day, after releasing a list of 154 on Saturday. It issued ‘B’ forms for 11 wards at the last minute. In wards under Vijayanagar assembly constituency, supporters of former minister V Somanna have succeeded in getting most of the tickets. Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa appealed to the rebels not to give up their ambitions and work for the victory of the party’s official candidates. “The party will consider your servicesin the coming days, those who were deprived of BBMP ticket will be compensated in some other way,” he assured. JD(S), however, has not faced much of a rebel problem.
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