Date:12/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/12/stories/2008041254310400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Janata Dal(S) list next week

S. Rajendran

Party has received 2,660 applications for nomination
It will field candidates in all 224 constituencies

Bangalore: The Janata Dal (Secular) leadership is waiting for the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress to announce their first list of candidates for the first phase of the Assembly elections scheduled for May 10, nominations for which open on April 16.

The BJP announced its first list of candidates in Delhi on Thursday while the Congress leaders are holding discussions at a farm on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Once the two parties announce their candidates, several unlucky aspirants are likely to make a beeline to the Janata Dal (Secular), party leaders say.

State Janata Dal (Secular) president N. Merajuddin Patel told The Hindu here on Thursday that the party had received a record number of 2,660 applications for the party nomination. “The party has never received such a large number of applications from people seeking to contest on the party symbol. While the party received about 200 applications in 1999, it was a little more in 2004. This is also the first time that we have charged Rs. 5,000 for an application in the general category and Rs. 2,500 from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and women applicants.”

Mr. Patel said in the light of the overwhelming response from partymen seeking to contest the polls, the Janata Dal (Secular) had decided not to forge an alliance with any other political party. A high-level committee of senior Janata Dal (Secular) leaders will meet here on April 14 and 15 to finalise the list of candidates for the first phase of polls. The list will be submitted to national party president H.D. Deve Gowda on April 16 for approval.

With the Janata Dal (Secular) deciding to field candidates in all the 224 constituencies, there will be two lists of candidates, and the process of finalising the candidates will be completed on April 19.

The high-level committee will comprise Janata Dal (Secular) Parliamentary Board chairman, D. Manjunath, Mr. Kumaraswamy and State working president C. Narayanaswamy, apart from Mr. Patel.