Karnataka Election 2023: BJP Releases First List Of 189 Candidates With 52 New Faces

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its first list of candidates for the Karnataka assembly election. It comprises 189 names, including Congress defectors.

The names were finalised in Delhi over the weekend by the BJP's election committee.

Notably, some members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) have not found a place on the list.

The BJP MLAs who have been dropped 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.

Arun Singh, BJP general secretary, revealed that the first list comprises 52 new candidates, 32 candidates from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), and 30 from the Scheduled Castes (SC). The list has eight women.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai plans to release a second list soon.

Karnataka votes on 10 May and the votes will be counted on 13 May. The Karnataka assembly has 224 seats.

– R Ashok, a BJP MLA and Revenue Minister, will run for re-election in Padmanabhanagar, and also in Kanakapura, where he will compete against the state Congress chief, D K Shivakumar.

– V Somanna, an MLA and Housing Minister, will challenge Congress leader Siddaramaiah in Varuna. Additionally, he will be running in Chamarajnagar, a stronghold of the Congress.

– Bommai will contest in Shiggaon, his current seat.

– B Y Vijayendra, son of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, will contest from Shikaripura. Yediyurappa has won from here seven times since 1983.

– Yashpal Suvarna, known for his campaign against the hijab and his involvement in cow protection, is set to contest for the first time. He will run in place of MLA Raghupathi Bhat, in the key coastal town of Udupi.

– C T Ravi will contest from Chikkamagaluru.

– Anand Singh, who defected from Congress to join the BJP in 2019, will not contest from Hospete. Instead, his son Siddharth Singh will run for the seat.

Singh had played a significant role in dislodging the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition four years ago, opening the door for the BJP's ascent to power.

– Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar expressed disappointment as he was asked to make way for others in the upcoming election. He has declared his intention to run for the seat regardless and has not ruled out the possibility of running as an independent candidate. The BJP has yet to name a replacement candidate for the Hubballi-Dharwad Central seat.

– K S Eshwarappa, a senior leader who previously contested from Shivamogga, has retired from electoral politics upon the party's request. The BJP hasn't nominated anyone yet for Shivamogga.