The Janata Dal (Secular) on Thursday formally announced the names of 15 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in the State, including the names of the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda from Hassan and V. Dhananjaya Kumar from Udupi-Chikmagalur.
Mr. Gowda told presspersons here that candidates for the remaining constituencies would be announced in a few days. The party was waiting for the return of Congress leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief, who is expected to contest from Mysore, from a pilgrimage.
Retired Director-General of Police H.T. Sangliana was expected to decide on joining the JD(S) in two days, Mr. Gowda said.
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He said party leaders would actively campaign for the candidates. “I will spend only three days in Hassan, and set aside the rest for campaigning across the State. People in Hassan know me and my contributions to the State very well,” he said.
The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and other leaders will undertake extensive tours for campaigning. Mr. Gowda said corruption would be the main poll plank for the party.
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The 15 candidates are: Srimantha Balasaheb Patil (Chikkodi), Raja Amareshwara Nayak (Raichur), Bandeppa Kashampur (Bidar), Ravi B. Menasinakai (Haveri), Shivananda Nayak (Uttara Kannada), Geetha Shivarajkumar (Shimoga), H.D. Deve Gowda (Hassan), Gulihatti D. Shekhar (Chitradurga), A. Krishnappa (Tumkur), M. Shivanna (Chamarajanagar), Prabhakar Reddy (Bangalore Rural), K. Keshava (Kolar), D.G. Sagar (Gulbarga), V. Dhananjaya Kumar (Udupi-Chikmagalur) and C.S. Puttaraju (Mandya).