<p>The Congress on Monday picked 20 candidates to contest the upcoming Legislative Council elections in a list that had some big names missing, including that of its floor leader S R Patil.</p>.<p>The election for 25 MLC seats representing local authorities is scheduled to be held on December 10.</p>.<p>The Congress has not fielded Patil, who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council. Similarly, the Congress’ list excludes former Council chairperson K Pratapchandra Shetty.</p>.<p>The party, however, has given the ticket to senior leader and Gandhi family loyalist KC Kondaiah for his re-election bid.</p>.<p>“The list has been finalized after consulting local leadership. We have provided more opportunities to active party workers,” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar said.</p>.<p>Shivakumar specified that the party had not sidelined Patil. “It was a decision taken by the state-level and national leaders."</p>.<p>He also dismissed talk that legislators were against fielding Kondaiah. “Yes, some people expressed their opinions. But [Kondaiah] got the ticket based on the opinions of local-level leaders. He’s a senior leader who sacrificed his Lok Sabha seat for (AICC president) Sonia Gandhi,” he said.</p>.<p>The Congress has fielded fresh faces in several seats: former Mysuru district health officer Dr D Thimmaiah (Mysore), Dr Mantar Gowda (Kodagu), MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar's brother Channaraj Hattiholi (Belgaum), Dinesh Gooligowda (Mandya) among others.</p>.<p>It is said that senior BJP leader SM Krishna, a former Congressman, had a role to play in ensuring the ticket to Dinesh, who was till recently Cooperation Minister ST Somashekhar's aide.</p>.<p>KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed will look for a re-entry into the Legislative Council from the Dharwad seat. Ahmed got the ticket as a reward for helping incumbent MLC Srinivas Mane in Hangal assembly bypoll. If Ahmed wins, he will take Mane’s place in the upper house.</p>.<p>In Bidar, the party has fielded former minister Rajashekhar Patil's relative Bhimrao B Patil replacing the incumbent Vijay Singh, son of former chief minister N Dharam Singh. In Kolar, the party gave the ticket to its former district unit chief Anil Kumar. In Bangalore, incumbent M Narayanaswamy got replaced by Yousuf Shariff.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>The Congress on Monday picked 20 candidates to contest the upcoming Legislative Council elections in a list that had some big names missing, including that of its floor leader S R Patil.</p>.<p>The election for 25 MLC seats representing local authorities is scheduled to be held on December 10.</p>.<p>The Congress has not fielded Patil, who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council. Similarly, the Congress’ list excludes former Council chairperson K Pratapchandra Shetty.</p>.<p>The party, however, has given the ticket to senior leader and Gandhi family loyalist KC Kondaiah for his re-election bid.</p>.<p>“The list has been finalized after consulting local leadership. We have provided more opportunities to active party workers,” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar said.</p>.<p>Shivakumar specified that the party had not sidelined Patil. “It was a decision taken by the state-level and national leaders."</p>.<p>He also dismissed talk that legislators were against fielding Kondaiah. “Yes, some people expressed their opinions. But [Kondaiah] got the ticket based on the opinions of local-level leaders. He’s a senior leader who sacrificed his Lok Sabha seat for (AICC president) Sonia Gandhi,” he said.</p>.<p>The Congress has fielded fresh faces in several seats: former Mysuru district health officer Dr D Thimmaiah (Mysore), Dr Mantar Gowda (Kodagu), MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar's brother Channaraj Hattiholi (Belgaum), Dinesh Gooligowda (Mandya) among others.</p>.<p>It is said that senior BJP leader SM Krishna, a former Congressman, had a role to play in ensuring the ticket to Dinesh, who was till recently Cooperation Minister ST Somashekhar's aide.</p>.<p>KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed will look for a re-entry into the Legislative Council from the Dharwad seat. Ahmed got the ticket as a reward for helping incumbent MLC Srinivas Mane in Hangal assembly bypoll. If Ahmed wins, he will take Mane’s place in the upper house.</p>.<p>In Bidar, the party has fielded former minister Rajashekhar Patil's relative Bhimrao B Patil replacing the incumbent Vijay Singh, son of former chief minister N Dharam Singh. In Kolar, the party gave the ticket to its former district unit chief Anil Kumar. In Bangalore, incumbent M Narayanaswamy got replaced by Yousuf Shariff.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
