Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is a party observer for the Karnataka polls, underlined 'youthfulness, freshness, representation for new ideas and leadership for the next generation,' while talking about the list.
The BJP on Tuesday announced its first list of candidates for 189 constituencies of the total 224 for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly that is going to polls on May 10. With almost 52 new faces being fielded and nine sitting MLAs being denied tickets, the BJP is looking to counter the anti-incumbency sentiment as it seeks to form a government again in the state.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is a party observer for the Karnataka polls, underlined “youthfulness, freshness, representation for new ideas and leadership for the next generation,” while talking about the list.
In a bid to fight against the two chief ministerial faces from Congress – DK Shivakumar in Kanakapura and former CM Siddaramaiah in Varuna – the BJP has fielded senior ministers R Ashoka (the party’s Vokkaliga face) in the former and V Somanna (a Lingayat who has a strong relationship with mutts) in the latter.
Ashoka will also contest from his home seat Padmanabhanagar and Somanna from a second seat, Chamarajnagar – making them the only ones who are contesting from two seats so far.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will be contesting from his home constituency Shiggaon in the Haveri district and former CM BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra from Shikaripura which was represented by the party’s Lingayat tall leader for nearly four decades.
Earlier Yediyurappa hinted that his son may contest from Varuna but, the very next day ruled out that possibility. "There was a pressure on Vijayendra to contest from Varuna constituency but I decided that he should contest from Shikaripura because this was the constituency which gave me a political life, recognition and honour," he had said last week.
Some other key names include Yashpal Suvarna who will be contesting from Udupi, a key coastal town, replacing the current MLA Raghupathi Bhat. Suvarna was the vice-president of the Development Committee of Udupi Government PU Girls’ College, which was at the centre of the hijab row in the area. He had termed the students who moved court against the hijab ban as “terrorists”, according to reports. Bhat on the other hand was the president of the same committee and reportedly sought the case to be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the protests.
In what could be a move to introduce newer faces, four sitting lawmakers did not find their place on the list. BJP MLA and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar (from Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency) announced that he was upset after the party asked him to make way for others and threatened he will contest one way or the other.
Another senior leader, KS Eshwarappa, who used to contest from Shivamogga announced his retirement from electoral politics hours before the list was announced. He further agreed to the party's request to give room for others. The move came as a surprise considering his efforts to stay on after his resignation as Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister last year after a contractor who killed himself, accused the minister in his suicide note of harassing him for 40% commission in a road work worth Rs 4 crore that he had executed.
While the police probe gave him a clean chit, Eshwarappa reportedly sought reinstatement in the Cabinet. However, the party did not pay heed to it. In fact, the Lokayukta police are investigating cases of corruption against Eshwarappa during his tenure as deputy CM. Yesterday, hundreds of his supporters protested outside his residence in Shivamogga, shouted slogans and burnt tyres, opposing his decision.
Other sitting MLAs who were denied tickets include Mahadevappa Yanawad, from the Ramdurg constituency and Anil Benake from Belagavi North. The party fielded Ravi Patil and Chikkarevanna to contest from Belagavi North and Ramdurg respectively.
“We do not know why this has happened. I have been serving in this constituency for the past two decades now and I have been an MLA twice. I strongly feel that I am for the people and for the party. We are requesting the party include JP Nadda to reconsider their decision and hopefully they will rectify the issue,” Mahadevappa told Outlook. Minister Jagadish Shettar too is scheduled to meet Jadda later in the day today to discuss the same.
In a major development, the party fielded a majority of the 17 turncoats who had switched over from Congress in 2019, leading to the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition and the formation of the BJP government.
One such MLA Anand Singh, who joined the BJP in 2019, had contested from Hospete. His son, Siddharth Singh, will now contest this seat. Anand Singh was the first of the 17 MLAs to quit Congress in 2019 which eventually toppled the Congress-JD(S) coalition that year.
Defectors who have again secured BJP tickets include Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Shivram Hebbar (Yellapur), BC Patil (Hirekerur), Health Minister K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura), minister K Gopalaiah, (Mahalakshmi Layout), minister MTB Nagaraj from Hoskote and KC Narayana Gowda (KR Pet).
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the second list will be out soon.