Karnataka Polls: Congress State Chief Files Nomination From Kanakapura Seat

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar today filed his nomination from Kanakapura constituency in the Ramanagara district for the State Assembly polls and said that the party will surpass the 150 seats mark in the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

Before filing his nomination, the state Congress president held a roadshow in his constituency from where he is a 7-time MLA and exuded confidence of forming the government in the state and to root out corruption.

"Guided by the blessing of my people of Karnataka, filed my nomination today from Kanakapura constituency. I have full faith in Karnataka, as we are all set to root out corruption and poor governance in the coming few days," Mr Shivakumar tweeted.

Speaking to ANI, Mr Shivakumar welcomed former BJP leader and six-time MLA Jagadish Shettar into Congress and claimed that more MLAs wanted to join the party, but Congress did not have "political space".

"I don't know the agenda of BJP and JDS... I have created hundreds of leaders here... Jagadish Shettar, Laxman Savadi and others joined our party and many ministers and MLAs wanted to come but we did not have political space. We will cross 150 seats and I am very confident that we will form the government in the state," he said.

Earlier today, Mr Shettar arrived at the Congress office in Bengaluru. His induction to the party took place in the presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka state Congress president DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kharge said, "I do not need to give more introduction about Jagadish Shettar. His joining will boost the enthusiasm of the Congress, He is the person who not only wins alone, he is a person who is capable to win more seats."

Though he was in RSS and Jana Sangha, he's a non-controversial person. We have worked together.

Our target was 150, now after Shettar's joining it's confirmed that we will reach the target.

"There will be no demands from Jagadish Shettar, we do not offer anything. He (Jagadish Shettar) will have to agree with the principles and the leadership of the party. We want to keep the country united and only Congress can do that," Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar told reporters this morning.

Notably, Karnataka State Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar met former CM Shettar in Bengaluru after he resigned from BJP on Sunday.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had mentioned that BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised Shettar a big post in Delhi.

"Jagadish Shettar has been a senior and an important leader in this region. JP Nadda and Union Home Minister had promised a big post in Delhi to Shettar. Everything would have been fine if the former CM had continued," Mr Bommai told media persons in Hubballi.

Mr Shettar, a six-time MLA from the constituency, was reportedly advised by the party to stand down and not seek a fresh term as MLA from the Hubli-Dharwad Central segment, following which his followers expressed their anguish against the party's high command.

On Saturday after announcing his resignation Jagadish Shettar also mentioned that there was a conspiracy against him, which is why he was denied a ticket.

The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)