NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: After holding hectic consultations for several days, the ruling BJP late Tuesday night announced its first list of 189 candidates with 52 new faces, two days before the nomination process is scheduled to start on Thursday.
The second list is expected in a day or two. In a bid to make the fight tough for the Congress’ chief ministerial aspirants, the BJP has fielded Revenue Minister R Ashoka against KPCC president DK Shivakumar in the latter’s pocketborough Kanakapura and Housing Minister V Somanna against former CM Siddaramaiah in Varuna, which the Congress considers a “safe” seat.
Ashoka will also contest from his Padmanabhanagar constituency in Bengaluru, while Somanna from Chamarajnagar. “In the last elections, Siddaramaiah won by a narrow margin (in Badami against B Sriramulu) and this time we are 100 per cent sure of defeating him,” BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said while releasing the first list in Delhi.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will be seeking reelection from his home constituency Shiggaon in the Haveri district. Former CM BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra will be contesting from Shikaripura which was represented by the party’s Lingayat strongman for nearly four decades.
Former IPS officer Bhaskar Rao, who recently switched from AAP to BJP, will contest from Chamarajpet in Bengaluru. He will take on Congress’s Zameer Ahmed Khan. Former IAS officer Anil Kumar will contest against former DyCM G Paremeshwara in Koratagere in the Tumakuru district. The party is fielding 52 new faces to overcome the anti-incumbency factor, while also retaining most of the heavyweights, including “turncoats” who had helped BJP form its government in 2019.
Fisheries minister and seven-time MLA S Angara has been dropped and has been replaced by newbie Bhagirathi Murulya, a former zilla panchayat member. In all, five sitting MLAs have been dropped in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
The party, which is also banking on the recently announced reservation policy, is fielding 30 from SCs, 16 from STs, and 32 from OBCs. Singh and Union Minister and Karnataka election in-charge for BJP, Dharmendra Pradhan, said they had followed a detailed consultation process involving 25,000 party workers right from assembly segments.
Spoken to Shettar: Pradhan
“The party’s Central Election Committee met on Sunday and senior party leaders, including those from the state, held hectic parleys since then to finalise the list by incorporating the suggestions made at the meeting, attended among others by Prime Minister Modi,” he said.
The developments did cause some heartburn among senior BJP leaders. Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar defied the central leadership by rejecting their suggestion to make way for a new face. The party is yet to announce its candidate for Shettar’s Hubli-Dharwad Central seat. Pradhan said Shettar will be “with us” and they have spoken to him.