The internal fight between Congress leaders came out in the open on Tuesday when the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara was embarrassed by his own party colleague who called him a Chamcha at a party conference, here at the party HQ in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

A Senior party leader Vaijnath Patil voiced his grouse in the open when he called Parameshwara “chamcha” (lackey) at a press conference here on Tuesday. Vaijnath Patil shouted “Aye adhyaksha…aye chamcha…” as Parameshwara was walking out of the conference room at the Congress headquarters on Queen’s Road.

Patil’s grouse is that his son Vikram is not being considered to be given a ticket to contest the upcoming Assembly polls.

Like many other senior and young party leaders, there is a sentiment building within the party the party is giving tickets to sons of former Chief Minister Dharam Singh , senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge. Also this time in the ticket queue are sons of Chief Ministeer Siddaramaiah , his cabinet colleagues Mahadevappa and daughter of state Home minister Ramalinga Reddy.  Many other senior leaders are also grooming their family members for considering for tickets. Amongst them is Infrastructure minister Roshan Baig who is grooming his son Ruman Baig to take over the reins of his Shivaji Nagar constituency.

Surprisingly though KPCC President has been the only  one who has advocated the norm for One Family One Ticket’ but Parameshwara’s appeal seems to have not cut any ice as every other senior Congress leader has ignored the issue.

Even amongst the women and the youth Congress leaders, there is a sense of despair. Syed Arshad a dedicated Youth Congressman recently announced his resignation from the party as he felt that while the top brass was busy promoting family members , there is not much potential for young leaders to continue in the party. “After having worked hard for over 10 years in various capacities in the Youth Congress and the party ,  I see no hope for many like me who could be considered for active politics. It’s a reason why decided to move on.” says Syed Arshad who was very active during the 2013 state polls and 2014 general elections.

The resentment is only growing as many other leaders are having to pay the price for the aspirations of the top brass to settle their sons politically. While H C Mahadevappa himself is changing constituency to ensure that his son contests from his Holenarasipura bastion where he is very popular. P Ramesh an aspirant for C V Raman Nagar said, “I have worked hard in grooming my constituency C V Raman Nagar for last 5 years and now thee party is heli-dropping Mahadevappa in the constituency”. The result is that motivation levels of workers in the constituency has dipped.

While the tckett list is still not officially out , but many believe that in coming days a few more dedicated workers might make an exit if the Congress top brass in state insist on tickets for their kin.

Similarly in Jayanagar constituency also Home Minister Ramalinga reddy’s daughter Soumya Reddy is doing the rounds superseding aspirations of many party loyalists who have worked hard.

Even while Congress party President Rahul Gandhi and his team at AICC is yet to step in but the dissent in the state unit is already taking a toll on party’s chances in 2018.

The BJP on the other hand is putting its ct together with the party President Amit Shah making his second visit to the city in less than a week. Sources tell that Amit Shah wants a blue print ready for the 2018 polls ready by 2nd Feb 2018. The BJP is sparing no effort to win Karnataka, Congress’s last big bastion.