"Will Soon Finalise Candidates For Karnataka Polls": BS Yediyurappa

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader BS Yediyurappa today said that the party will soon finalise the list of candidates for the State Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on May 10.

BS Yediyurappa, who is flying down to the national capital to take part in BJP's Central Election Committee meeting along with Karnataka CM Bommai today, said that the party will finalise the candidates' list for the 224 seats soon.

"I am going to Delhi today for the BJP CEC meeting. We will finalise all seats as early as possible and that is why I am going," Mr Yediyurappa said ahead of his flight here.

Asked about the Congress party's decision to give a ticket to Vinay Kulkarni, a former minister who is out on bail in connection with the murder of Zilla Panchayat member Yogeeshgouda Goudar, from Dharwad constituency, Mr Yediyurappa said that this is the grand old party's internal fight and he doesn't want to comment on that.

On Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) planning to contest with the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in Karnataka and impact on the results if they rope in JDS, the former State CM said, "This is up to them and it is not going to affect BJP."

"The BJP is going to get absolute majority and we are going to form the government 100 per cent," he added.

Notably, while the opposition Congress and Janata Dal Secular have announced 166 and 93 candidates respectively so far, the ruling BJP is yet to announce its first list of candidates for the 224-seat assembly elections in Karnataka.

In the 224-member Assembly, the NDA have 119 MLAs in Karnataka, but this time 40 per cent of the tickets of existing MLAs will be changed.

Ahead of the Assembly election in Karnataka, the only southern state where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in government, the saffron party has decided to throw all its efforts into the poll campaign and reach the helm for the second consecutive term.

BJP senior source told ANI that BJP is also planning carpet bombing in Karnataka.

"The names of 40-star campaigners have also been decided for Karnataka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and several Union ministers like Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman have been included in the list. All have been asked to give two weeks' time in the poll-bound state," he added.

The source said that BS Yediyurappa will play a cardinal role as a star campaigner for the party.

The party will contest the polls alone and will not forge a pact with Janata Dal (Secular).

This time also the BJP will fight the entire assembly elections with PM Modi's face and on the development model of the double-engine government.

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