Mangaluru (The Hindu): After tasting victory in the elections to the Legislative Council, the Congress is now preparing to face the elections to the zilla and taluk panchayats.

Addressing media here on Thursday, Ivan D’Souza, MLC and secretary, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), said that the party would begin accepting applications from aspirants. The KPCC has issued a direction that a district-level election committee be constituted for selecting candidates. It would be headed by the district in-charge Minister.

Those general aspirants who would like to contest in the zilla panchayat elections would have to pay the party Rs. 10,000 and those seeking ticket for the taluk panchayat polls would have to pay Rs. 5,000 while filing their applications.

The committee would scrutinise the applications and decide who should contest based on reservations announced.

The MLC claimed that though two rebel candidates contested the Legislative Council elections from the local bodies constituency in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, the Congress fought the elections in unity and retained the seat. It showed that the party was supreme. The victory was an indicator of the party’s performance in the coming elections to the zilla and taluk panchyats, he said.

Mr. D’Souza said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has sanctioned Rs. 14.10 lakh from his relief fund for medical treatment of 21 persons in the district. The MLC distributed the cheques to some on the occasion.