BJP's Karnataka Candidates' 1st List Has 52 Fresh Names, Provokes Protests

The BJP has announced the first list of 189 candidates for the Karnataka assembly election. Several MLAs have been dropped and Congress turncoats chosen in the first list. A second list will come soon, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

BJP MLA and Revenue Minister R Ashok will contest from his home seat Padmanabhanagar, and Kanakapura too, where he will face the state Congress chief DK Shivakumar.

MLA and Housing Minister V Somanna will face-off against Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Varuna. Mr Somanna will also contest from a second seat, Chamarajnagar. He has always contested from Govindaraja Nagar constituency in Bengaluru. This would be the first time he is contesting in two seats - both strongholds of the Congress.

The BJP's election committee met in Delhi over the weekend to finalise the names. Karnataka has 224 assembly seats.

Mr Bommai will contest from Shiggaon constituency, his current seat.

BY Vijayendra, the son of former Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa, will contest from Shikaripura seat, the same constituency where his father had won seven times since 1983.

State minister B Sriramulu will contest from Bellary Rural.

In Udupi, a key costal town, Yashpal Suvarna will contest for the first time in place of the current MLA Raghupathi Bhat. Mr Suvarna had aggressively campaigned for hijab ban. He is seen as a rising star among his local supporters. His claim to fame also includes activism in cow protection.

Other key BJP leaders Ramesh Jarkiholi and Govind M Karjol will contest from Gokak and Mudhol, respectively.

BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi will contest from Chikkamagaluru.

The ruling BJP in Karnataka is looking to win a second term

Congress rebel Anand Singh, who joined the BJP in 2019, had contested from Hospete. His son, Siddharth Singh, will contest from this seat. Anand Singh was a key engineer of the strategy that toppled the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) coalition in 2019, paving the way for the BJP to come to power.

BJP General Secretary Arun Singh said there are 52 new candidates this time, 32 are Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates and 30 are Scheduled Castes (SC). Nine candidates are doctors, five lawyers and two retired bureaucrats. There are eight women in the first list.

In Athani, the BJP has chosen a candidate, Mahesh Kumathahalli, against the request of party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi. Mr Savadi last week tried to convince the BJP that his chances of winning were higher and the BJP would lose the seat if the ticket was given to Mr Kumathahalli.

BJP MLA and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who today announced he is upset after the party asked him to make way for others, has threatened he will contest one way or the other and not ruled out fighting as an independent. The BJP is yet to announce the candidate on his seat, Hubballi-Dharwad Central.

Another senior leader, KS Eshwarappa, who used to contest from Shivamogga, has however announced his retirement from electoral politics and agreed to the party's request to give room for others. The BJP hasn't announced a name yet for Shivamogga.

The BJP MLAs who have been dropped from the list include Raghupathy Bhat from Udupi, Anil Benake from Belagavi North, S Angara from Sullia, rebel MLA Anand Singh from Hospete and Halady Srinivas Shetty from Kundapura.

BJP MLA Goolihatti Shekar has been dropped from Hosa Durga. In October last year when a debate was raging over the anti-conversion bill in Karnataka, Mr Shekar had alleged his mother had been forcefully converted to Christianity.

Karnataka will vote on May 10 and votes will be counted three days later.