Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is a rare politician who has refused to let his son participate in electoral politics, by taking his name off the proposed list of MLC candidates.
There is a beeline for the party ticket for the Legislative Council elections which are to be held on December 27, and Siddaramaiah has said that he will not obstruct his son’s political career after he retires, but until then, his son would not contest elections. He is reportedly planning to make his son contest in the 2023 assembly elections.
The Mysuru district unit had prepared a list of names including that of Rakesh, but Siddaramaiah had the name struck off before it was sent to the high command, according to a report in Eenadu India.
The report said that the only chief ministers or politicians for that matter in Karnataka who had taken this decision were former chief ministers Ramakrishna Hegde and JH Patel. The sons of former chief ministers such as S Bangarappa, N Dharam Singh, BS Yeddyurappa have all benefitted from their fathers’ political clout.
Several politicians cutting across party lines have promoted their sons including Mallikarjun Kharge, HD Deve Gowda have promoted their sons’ careers.
Currently, law minister TB Jayachandra is lobbying for a ticket for his son Santhosh, and Dharam Singh is demanding the ticket for his son Vijay.