A cursory look at the list of candidates announced by the BJP so far for the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections reveals that several candidates come from influential political families. This has raised eyebrows since the saffron party constantly accuses the opposition of ‘dynasty politics’. Some candidates are sons or brothers of current and past BJP leaders, while others are close relatives. This phenomenon is observed across districts and regions.
Interestingly, while some of them have connections within the BJP, some powerful families have relatives in multiple parties.
Basavaraj Bommai, Chief Minister and the party candidate from Shiggaon, is the son of former Chief Minister and former Union Minister the late Somappa Rayappa Bommai.
B S Yediyurappa and his sons
B.S. Yediyurappa, former Chief Minister, gave up his seat of Shikaripur in favour of his son B.Y. Vijayendra. His other son B.Y. Raghavendra is the Lok Sabha member from Shivamogga. Another candidate whose father was Chief Minister is Kumar Bangarappa, who is contesting from Sorab, the constituency represented by his father S. Bangarappa.
Basavanagudi MLA Ravi Subramanya, who is seeking re-election, is the uncle of Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya. C.V. Raman Nagar MLA S. Raghu is the brother-in-law of MLA and former Minister Arvind Limbavali.
Jarkiholi brothers of Belagavi
Former Ministers Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak) and Balachandra Jarkiholi (Arabhavi), who have got BJP tickets in Belagavi district, are brothers. Balachandra Jarkiholi who is the chairman of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
Interestingly, another member of the family Satish Jarkiholi is in the Congress.
The Jarkiholi brothers are related through matrimony to Ballari MP Y. Devendrappa, and Shivanagouda Naik, Devadurga MLA from Raichur district.
Shivanagouda Naik is, in turn, related to former MPs B.V. Naik and Venkatesh Naik.
Ballari candidate and Tribal Welfare Minister B. Sriramulu’s sister, J. Shanta, has served as the MP of Ballari in the past. Mr Sriramulu’s nephew, Suresh Babu, is the BJP candidate in Kampli. His uncle, Sanna Phakirappa, has served as the MP from Raichur in the past.
Ballari City nominee and MLA Gali Somashekar Reddy is the younger brother of Harapanahalli MLA Gali Karunakara Reddy. Another brother, former Minister Gali Janardhana Reddy, resigned from the BJP and formed the Kalyana Rajya Pragati Party.
Katti clan of Belagavi district in Karnataka
Ramesh Katti, who was chosen to contest against Ganesh Hukkeri in Chikkodi -Sadalaga seat, is the uncle of Nikhil Katti, who has been nominated for the Hukkeri Assembly seat. Ramesh Katti has served as Lok Sabha member from Chikkodi in the past when the seat became vacant following the demise of his father and former Minister Umesh Katti, a Lingayat leader from Belagavi district.
Minister Shashikala Jolle is the party nominee from Nippani. Her husband Anna Saheb Jolle is the Lok Sabha member from Chikkodi in Belagavi district.
Ratna Vishwanath Mamani (Saundatti Yellamma) is the wife of Vishwanath Mamani, deputy speaker of the legislative assembly who died recently. Vishwanath Mamani’s father had also served in the same capacity in the 1980s.
The parents of Dattatreya Patil Revoor, re-nominated from Gulbarga south, have been MLAs in the past. His mother Aruna Devi was elected after the death of her husband Chandrashekar Patil.
Preetham Nagappa, candidate from Hanur, is the son of H. Nagappa, former Minister. His mother, Parimala Nagappa, was also an MLA.
Siddu Patil, candidate in Humnabad seat in Bidar district, is the nephew of former BJP MLC Basavaraj Patil Humnabad. His cousin Rajshekar Patil is an MLA. MLCs Chandrashekar Patil and Bheemrao Patil are the brothers of Rajshekar Patil.
Former Minister Malikayya Guttedar, who has been chosen to contest from Afzalpur, and Aland MLA Subhash Guttedar are in-laws.
Chincholi candidate Avinash Jadhav is the son of Umesh Jadhav, Lok Sabha member from Kalaburagi.
The candidate from Gulbarga North Chandrakant Patil hails from a family with significant clout. His father B.G. Patil was an MLC.
Hubli-Dharwad-West MLA Aravind Bellad is the son of former MLA Chandrakant Bellad.
Dharwad MLA Amrut Desai is the son of former MLA Ayyappa Basavaraj Desai.
Minister Anand Singh has dropped out of the race, but succeeded in getting a ticket for his son Siddharth Singh from Vijayanagara in Vijayanagara district.
Bhalki nominee Prakash Khandre is related to former Ministers Bheemanna Khandre and Eshwar Khandre.
Poornima Srinivas, the nominee from Hiriyur, is the daughter of former Minister A. Krishnappa.
Chitradurga MLA G.H. Thippareddy is the brother of former Minister Ashwath Reddy.
Tumakuru City nominee G.B. Jyothi Ganesh is the son of Tumakuru MP G.S. Basavaraj.
Sira candidate Rajesh Gowda is the son of former MP from Chitradurga, C.P. Mudalagiriyappa.
Saptagiri Gowda, nominated from Gandhinagar, is the son of former Minister Ramachandra Gowda.
Ramanagaram candidate Goutham Gowda’s father, Marilinge Gowda, was a former MLC from JD(S).
B. Harshavardhan, candidate from Nanjangud, is the son-in-law of Chamarajanagar MP Srinivas Prasad.
