Even as political parties in Karnataka work overtime to finalise the list of candidates for the forthcoming elections, there is this growing fear among party bosses of dissidence activity.

Party bosses are holed up in guest houses and resorts to finalise the list of candidates for their respective parties and are keeping their locations undisclosed as they do not want to be swayed by pressure.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has announced its probable list of candidates for Bengaluru and the same would be finalised on Thursday. Pramila Nesargi, former MLA and a probable candidate, who finds a mention in the list, told rediff.com that it is almost final and needs a stamp of approval at New Delhi. However, party bosses refuse to comment further on the list and say that last minute changes could be affected.

The Janata Dal-Secular too is working overtime and plans to finalise its candidates by Thursday. H D Kumaraswamy, former chief minister and JD-S leader, who is in charge of finalising the list, says that they have received over 2,000 applications. "We are working overtime to ensure that a balance is maintained and there is no damage to the party during the selection," he said.

The Congress has received the most number of applications so far with 2,700. The party will finalise the first list of candidates and will make the same public by Thursday. Congress leaders told rediff.com that there is too much pressure on party bosses and they are doing everything in the book to keep as many people happy. "The last thing we need at this moment is dissidence," a Congress leader said.

Mallikarjuna Kharge, Congress chief of Karnataka, says that they do not believe in assurances. It is better to tell the candidates the truth about their selection rather than keep them in the dark and misguide them, he feels.

The BJP too is facing similar problems. Flooded with nearly 2,000 applications from persons aspiring to contest the polls, party boss D V Sadananda Gowda has preferred to lock himself up in a five star hotel to finalise the list. BJP leaders say that the number of applicants has gone up almost two fold when compared to the previous elections. The BJP says that candidates feel that it is their best shot as they hope to win on the sympathy wave that the BJP is riding on at the moment following the dramatic manner in which their government was pulled down in a week.