Karnataka Congress will fight the upcoming assembly polls in the state on its own, party chief DK Shivakumar said on Friday. He was in Delhi to attend the Congress party's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting to decide on the first list of candidates for the election.
"No alliance with anyone. We are going alone. We are fighting alone. We will come (to power) alone," he said.
According to a report by Deccan Herald, the CEC has cleared 130 names for the upcoming assembly elections. It was decided in the meeting to release the list next week mostly after Rahul Gandhi’s Belagavi rally scheduled on March 20, the report said.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the party's first list of candidates for the Assembly polls, which is likely by May, will be announced on March 22, the day of Ugadi festival, which is observed as New Year by Kannadigas.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah also told reporters that his name hasn't been cleared yet. "They (party high command) haven't cleared my name yet. I have said in Kolar that whatever high command decides, I will abide by that," he said in response to reports of him not contesting from Kolar Assembly Constituency.
Speculations were ripe since last year that the Congress leader would not contest from his constituency Badami in Bagalkot district. He had cited his inability to visit the constituency frequently as the reason for not contesting.
The Congress has set a target of winning at least 150 seats in the 224-member Assembly, to come to power in Karnataka, with a clear majority. While JD(S) has already announced the first list of 93 candidates for Assembly polls, BJP and Congress are yet to announce their list.
