End of dynasty politics in Karnataka? NO WAY!

Vicky Nanjappa reports on how despite tall claims by parties, dynasty politics has not ceased to influence the distribution of tickets in Karnataka

It appears that the talk of doing away with dynasty politics is just a pre-election gimmick in Karnataka.

Karnataka elections are flooded with candidates who already have a family member in the political arena. Two or three persons of a family contesting elections has become the norm.

The Congress, which made dynasty the biggest pre-poll issue, leads the pack in this list.

One would have thought that the Lads from Bellary would be kept out the race. However, Anil Lad exerted enough pressure on the party to secure a ticket not only him but also his cousin Santosh.

Anil is contesting the Bellary seat where as Santhosh will fight the battle from Kalghatgi.

The Congress may have been clear that they would leave out the older leaders from the poll fray. This includes the likes of Mallikarjuna Kharge, N Dharam Singh and C K Jaffer Sharrief. But they certainly are not complaining.

Kharge’s son, Priyank will contest the Chittapur seat.

Singh’s son Ajay will try his luck from Jewargi.

Jaffer Sharrief will have his grandson contesting the Hebbal seat while son-in-law Yasin Sayed will fight from Raichur city.

The others in a similar set up are Shamnur Shivashankarappa and his son Mallikarjuna S who will contest the Davanger North and South ticket respectively.

M Krishnappa will fight the Vijayanagar seat while his son Priya Krishna will contest from Govindrajnagar.

The case is quite similar with the Janata Dal-Secular, which has H Kumaraswamy, his wife Anitha Kumaraswamy and brother H D Revanna contesting the elections this time.

There has always been an allegation against the JD-S of it being a family party.

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah had quit the JD-S on this ground.

In the Bharatiya Janata Party, M Srinivas, an MLA from Rajarajeshwari Nagar, has managed to get a ticket for his brother Srinivas who will contest from Bangalore South.