No precedent of giving tickets to all sitting MLAs: Bommai

There is no example of giving tickets to all sitting MLAs, since every election is different, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday.

The tickets will be given only after a survey and performance assessment, he said.

Reacting to former chief minister B S Yediyurappa's statement that some of the sitting party legislators are unlikely to get the tickets, he told reporters at Chikkagalagali in the district that since Yediyurappa is a member of the BJP parliamentary board, he may have that information.

The issue of giving tickets to candidates above 70 years of age or not is not before the board.

"Every constituency is discussed in the parliamentary board and it is very difficult to say all sitting MLAs will get tickets," he noted.

Reacting to the Lokayukta raid on the house of BJP lawmaker Madal Virupakshappa, Bommai said the Lokayukta was independent to probe the matter.

"Everyone must respect the court order. There is no question of concealing anything," he added.

He said the Congress leaders were making baseless allegations and by doing so, their sins of the past would not be washed away.

The government will hand over 59 corruption cases that took place during the Congress regime to the Lokayukta, since those cases had been closed by the ACB, the chief minister said.

On Congress leaders calling BJP national general secretary C T Ravi a Hindu militant, he said, for the Congress leaders, patriots look like militants.