Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former Union Minister H.K. Muniyappa, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, former KPCC president G Parameshwara, and veteran leader Shamanur Shivashankrappa are among those who have found their names in the first list of 124 candidates released by the Congress on Saturday for elections to Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Karnataka will go to polls in April-May 2023, and the Election Commission of India is yet to announce the poll dates.
Former CM’s pick
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be contesting from Varuna constituency in Mysuru district while KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar will contest from his Kanakapura assembly constituency. | Photo Credit: MANJUNATH HS
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be contesting from Varuna constituency in Mysuru district, represented by his son Yathindra in the present Assembly. Mr. Yathindra’s name was missing from the first list. There was much speculation on his choice of constituency. Mr. Siddaramaiah contested from Badami in the 2018 Assembly elections. The party has not announced the candidate for Kolar seat, from where Mr. Siddaramaiah had shown interest to contest polls. The candidate from Badami too has not been announced.
Also Read | In Karnataka battle, BJP also relies on newbie recruits
Darshan Dhruvanarayan, son of former KPCC Working President Dhruvanarayan who passed away recently, has been named from Nanjangud (SC) in Chamarajanagar district.
Four-time MLC Puttanna, who quit the BJP a few days ago and joined the Congress, will be contesting from Rajajinagar in Bengaluru. He will be fighting against BJP veteran and former minister S Suresh Kumar.
Predictably, D.K. Shivakumar will contest from his Kanakapura assembly constituency, another former KPCC president G Parameshwar from Koratagere (SC) constituency in Tumakuru district. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyanka Kharge will be contesting from Chittapur (SC) in Kalaburagi and KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre will contest from Bhalki constituency in Bidar, according to the list announced by the Congress.
Fathers and sons
Two father-and-son duo have made it to the first list. M Krishnappa (Vijayanagar) and Priya Krishna (Govindarajanagar) have got tickets again from the Bengaluru constituencies.
Veteran Shyamanuru Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South) and S.S. Mallikarjun (Davanagere North) have got tickets as well.
Fathers and daughters
Seven-time MP and former Union Minister, KH Muniyappa will be contesting from the Devanahalli (SC) reserved constituency while his daughter Roopakala M is fielded from Kolar Gold Field (SC) reserved constituency. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K
Seven-time MP and former Union Minister, H K Muniyappa, for the first time, will be contesting elections to the Legislative Assembly from the Devanahalli (SC) reserved constituency on the outskirts of Bengaluru. His daughter Roopakala M is fielded from Kolar Gold Field (SC) reserved constituency. KPCC Working president and seven-time MLA Ramaligna Reddy (BTM Layout) and his daughter Sowmya Reddy (Jayanagar) will also be contesting elections.
Mithun M. Rai, who contested from Mangaluru Lok Sabha constituency in 2019, has been given a ticket for contesting from Moodabidri Assembly segment in Dakshina Kannada. Mr. Siddaramaiah’s close aide H. C. Mahadevappa will contest from T. Narasipur, while KPCC campaign committee chairman M B Patil fielded from Babaleswar.
Former Chief Minister late Dharam Singh’s son Ajay Dharam Singh has been given ticket from Jevargi Kalaburagi and Ashok Kheny from Bidar South.
Prominent names
First time MLAs and women candidates Laxmi Ravindra Hebbalkar (in pic) from Belgaum Rural and Anjali Nimbalkar from Khanapur, have got tickets in Belagavi. | Photo Credit: The Hindu
Other prominent candidates who bagged ticket include H.K. Patil (Gadag), R.V. Deshapande (Haliyal), S. Madhu Bangarappa (Sorab), K.J. George (Sarvagnanagar), Dinesh Gundu Rao (Gandhi Nagar).
BJP MP Bache Gowda’s son Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda will contest from Hosakote on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Kusuma H, who lost in the bypolls in Rajarajeshwarinagar against minister Muniratna, will be contesting again.
First time MLAs and women candidates Laxmi Ravindra Hebbalkar from Belgaum Rural and Anjali Nimbalkar from Khanapur, have got tickets in Belagavi, the border district of Karnataka.
Also Read | Analysis | Karnataka Assembly polls will be key to Congress revival before 2024 Lok Sabha elections
Minorities, SC/ST
Candidates belonging to minority community such as Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagar), N.A. Haris (Shanti Nagar), B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan (Chamarajpet) — all in Bengaluru — along with Tanveer Sait (Narasimharaja) in Mysuru, Iqbal Hussain H.A. (Ramanagaram), U.T. Abdul Khader Ali Fareed (Mangalore), Kaneez Fatima (Gulbarga Uttar) and Rahim Khan (Bidar) have been given tickets.
Candidates belonging to minority community such as Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagar), N.A. Haris (Shanti Nagar), B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan (Chamarajpet) have been given tickets in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K
A total of 22 candidates belonging to SC category and nine from ST category have been given tickets.
New faces
Anup Iyengar is given a ticket to contest elections from Malleshwaram in Bengaluru, while Rakshith Shivaram in Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada district. Lone MLC U.B. Venkatesh is given a ticket from Basavanagudi in Bengaluru.
Elections will be held to 224 constituencies. Now, the Congress will have to announce candidates for another 100 constituencies.
The Election Commission has not yet announced the schedule for the assembly polls in Karnataka, but it is expected any time after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Karnataka today (March 25).
Published - March 25, 2023 09:32 am IST
