The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday announced its first list of 13 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.
The former director and CFO of Infosys V. Balakrishnan will contest from Bangalore Central against the BJP’s P.C. Mohan. The Congress is yet to name its candidate.
Activist Nina P. Nayak will contest from Bangalore South against the BJP’s five-time MP Ananth Kumar and the Congress candidate Nandan Nilekani.
“AAP has promised people a credible alternative to corrupt, communal and dynastic politics, and this is a view I concur with. The empowerment of women and children will continue to be my line,” she told The Hindu.
Babu Mathew, lawyer, is the AAP candidate from Bangalore North, where the BJP is fielding former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda. Here too, the Congress is yet to name its candidate.
A 39-year-old techie and Kannada writer, Ravikrishna Reddy, will contest from Bangalore Rural.
The former Inspector-General of CRPF K. Arkesh is the AAP choice for the Chickballapur seat where he will most likely contest against Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily.
Architect G. Sridhara Kallahalla will contest from Shimoga, where the BJP has fielded the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
The former director of the Mangalore International Airport M.R. Vasudeva is AAP’s candidate in Dakshina Kannada; the former Minister B.T. Lalitha Naik is the candidate in Gulbarga and in Chikkodi, the candidate is social worker Ashfaq Ahmed Madaki.
Founder-member of the Kisan Movement in Karnataka and Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Hemant Kumar will contest from Hubli–Dharwad and engineer Chandrakant Kulkarni will contest from Bidar.
Bhimaraya, a farmer, is AAP’s candidate in Raichur, while member of the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti Kotiganahalli Ramaiah is set to contest from Kolar.
The AAP, which will contest from all 28 constituencies, would announce its final list by the end of the week, Prithvi Reddy, national executive member of AAP and the party’s Karnataka convener, told The Hindu.
