BENGALURU: Fourteen Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka will go to polls on Tuesday and this is considered as a high-stakes battle for AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge as most of the seats are in North Karnataka regarded as his home turf, and former CM and Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa, whose son BY Vijayendra is state BJP president.
With this, LS elections will end in Karnataka. Polling was held on April 26 for 14 other constituencies in the state.
BJP and Congress leaders have campaigned extensively in the 14 constituencies amid the rising mercury levels in most parts of North Karnataka. The two parties focused on issues such as SC/ST/OBC quota, minority appeasement, PM Modi’s and Congress guarantees, Hubballi Neha Hiremath murder case and the latest Hassan sex scandal.
Prominent among those in the fray are former CMs Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri) and Jagadish Shettar (Belgaum), Union ministers Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and Bhagwant Khuba (Bidar), Yediyurappa’s son Raghavendra (Shivamogga), Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani (Gulbarga SC), and former minister B Sriramulu (Bellary).
The Congress has fielded Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre’s son Sagar Khandre (Bidar), Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar’s son Mrinal Hebbalkar (Belgaum), PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka (Chikkodi) and APMC minister Shivananda Patil’s daughter Samyukta (Bagalkot).
Prabha Mallikarjun, wife of minister SS Mallikarjun (Congress), and Gayathri Siddeshwara, wife of MP GM Siddeshwara (BJP) are fighting for Davanagere seat. Anjali Nimbalkar of Congress is pitted against Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri of BJP in Uttara Kannada. BJP’s alliance partner JDS is not contesting in Tuesday’s elections. However, former CM and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy has campaigned extensively for BJP candidates. Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Haveri, Bijapur, Bidar, Gulbarga (SC), Raichur, Bellary, Koppal, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga and Davanagere go to polls on Tuesday.
