Congress delivered a surprise on Thursday, the final nomination day for the Karnataka election on 10 May, with state chief DK Shivakumar’s younger brother and Lok Sabha member DK Suresh submitting a second party nomination since the seat of Kanakapura, which is held by Shivakumar.
The move comes two days after Shivakumar submitted his nomination. Suresh said it was a precautionary measure in case of disqualification of his brother. The Directorate of Compliance, in a money laundering investigation against Shivakumar, had previously indicated that the Congressional MLA had shown an incorrect declaration of assets in a previous election.
Shivakumar’s BJP rival for the Kanakapura seat, R Ashoka, suggested that the brothers’ move was a consequence of strategies the party’s central leadership was likely to adopt.
Shivakumar is facing a CBI investigation in a disproportionate assets case. He has applied for the dismissal of the case and the Karnataka High Court has reserved verdict for him. According to Suresh, his brother also recently received notices from the Chennai Income Tax department.
Election authorities are scheduled to review the nominations between April 21 and 24 and may reject nominations that are not in order.
