BENGALURU: As Congress released its third list of 43 candidates on Saturday, former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi has been given the ticket to contest from the Athani Assembly constituency, which was denied to him by BJP, leading him to quit the saffron party. The Grand Old Party has kept the Hubballi-Dharwad Central seat vacant expecting former chief minister Jagadish Shettar to join the party, as his candidature from BJP was hanging in balance till late on Saturday night.
If at all Shettar joins Congress, Belagavi Rural MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar’s close relative Rajath Ullagaddimath will have to let go of his ambition. Kolar, which had become a hot seat after Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah announced he would contest from there, witnessed protests by his supporters as the ticket went to former Mulbagal MLA Kothur G Manjunath. Manjunath cannot contest from Mulbagal, which is a SC reserved seat, as he suffered a setback in a case of fake SC certificate against him. Congress has not announced a candidate for Mulbagal yet.
The Congress on Saturday announced its third list of 43 candidates for the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, and turned down the request of senior leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to contest from the second seat - Kolar.
“It will be given to a person Manjunath chooses. It could also be his cousin Manjusri, who is a close confidant of KPCC president DK Shivakumar,” a source said.
Veteran leader RV Devaraj will run from Chickpet. Former minister Umashri has been denied the ticket from Terdal in Bagalkot district. Instead, a new face, Siddappa Ramappa Konnur, has been picked. Former MLA KM Shivalinge Gowda will be fielded from Arasikere. KM Uday, who allegedly helped former chief minister BS Yediyurappa form the government by bringing down the Congress-JDS government in 2019, has been given the ticket from Maddur.
Farmer leader NH Konarreddy, former minister CS Shivalli’s wife Kusumavathi (Kundagol), 82-year-old Revunaik Belamagi (Kalaburagi Rural SC seat), Margaret Alva’s son Nivedit Alva (Kumta), former minister Motamma’s daughter Nayana (Mudigere) and Youth Congress leader Hampan Gowda Badarli (Sindhanur) are among prominent figures in the list.
Congress has kept 15 seats vacant, including Pulikeshi Nagar in Bengaluru, as sitting MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy has been facing the wrath of Muslims over the DJ Halli riots. AC Srinivas, who lost in
Mahadevapura in 2018 and an aspirant for the Devanahalli seat, may get the ticket, a source said.
CONG KEEPS SEAT VACANT
The Grand Old Party has kept the Hubballi-Dharwad Central seat vacant expecting former CM Jagadish Shettar to join the party, as his candidature from BJP was hanging in balance till late on Saturday