Karnataka Cong infighting escalates; leaders meet Kharge over Chickpet constituency ticket

Ahead of high-stake Karnataka assembly elections, infighting within Congress over tickets has now reached the high command in New Delhi. Karnataka Congress leaders met All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Mallikarjun Kharge and handed over a letter complaining against RV Devaraj, former MLA from Chickpet assembly constituency.

Under the leadership of the Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy, a 6 member delegation which consisted of leaders -- Udaya Shankar, Gangambike Mallikarjun, BS Kirankumar, Imtiyaz Pasha, N Amaresh Pappana, Manoj Chandrappa met Kharge and submitted the letter.

Infighting within Congress over Chickpet constituency

In the letter, the members have raised questions over the credibility of Devaraj claiming that he doesn't have the capacity to win on his own. The leaders have urged to give the ticket to a new face for the Chickpet constituency citing that he has been facing differences with his own party members. 

The letter stated, "Former MLA RV Devaraj who has been given a ticket seven times consecutively from 1989 to 2018 has only managed to win 3 times. This shows whenever there was a wave with the party he won the election, or else there is no personal credibility or stature in the Chickpet Assembly constituency. He has been facing a lot of anti-incumbency with his own party leaders and party workers. Therefore, we all request to issue a ticket to a new face which would yield a seat to the Congress".

Karnataka Elections 2023

Notably, Karnataka is scheduled to go to Assembly polls in 2023 which could take place in April or early May as the term of the 224-member legislative assembly ends on May 24. A hung assembly was witnessed in the 2018 Karnataka polls. BS Yediyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister but had to resign after not managing to clear the majority mark. Later, Congress and JDS formed a government. BS Yediyurappa was again sworn in as CM in 2019 but he was replaced by Basavaraj Bommai in 2021.