SM Krishna will contest K'taka polls

Putting to rest all speculation, the Congress has cleared the name of former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna to contest the forthcoming elections in Karnataka.

According to sources in the Congress, Krishna will be contesting the elections from his home constituency at Maddur. The list of candidates from the Congress is ready and is awaiting the approval of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi.

There had been speculation earlier that Krishna will only campaign for the party and not contest the elections. Krishna himself had recently said at Mysore that he would not contest the elections.

This sudden move by the Congress is seen as a measure to check mate the Janata Dal-Secular,

which is trying to capitalise on the Vokkaliga vote bank.

The Congress feels that Krishna, who is from the Vokkaliga community, could shift the votes of this community in the favour of the Congress. The Vokkaligas constitute 17 per cent of the 5 crore population of Karnataka.

The Congress, however, is reading the script carefully and will not announce a chief ministerial candidate until the elections are over as they do not want to disturb the balance within the party. Congress chief Mallikarjuna Kharge's name has also been doing the rounds for the top post.