राजनीति

BSY son, Bommai, 52 new faces in first BJP list for Karnataka

where votes will be cast on May 10 to elect the 224-member House, the BJP Tuesday fielded as many as 52 new candidates and retained 90 sitting MLAs including 11 from the Congress and JDS who crossed over in 2019 to help it wrest power from the coalition.

The party has also brought in as many as 12 new faces for constituencies won by its MLAs in 2018 including the Shikaripura seat held by former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa where his son B Y Vijayendra has been named the candidate. Similarly, Siddharth Singh, son of MLA Anand Singh who defected from the Congress in 2019, and Nikhil Katti, son of former MLA Umesh Katti who died last year, have been chosen to replace their fathers in the Vijayanagara and Hukkeri seats.

In a strategic move, the BJP has allowed senior leaders R Ashoka and V Somanna, to contest against Congress stalwarts D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah in Kanakapura and Varuna, respectively.

“This time Siddaramaiah will surely be defeated in Varuna,” Arun Singh, BJP general secretary and in-charge for Karnataka, said at a press conference in New where the list was released. Ashoka and Somanna will also contest from their strongholds of Padmanabhanagar and Chamarajanagar, respectively.

Despite communicating an intent to drop seniors like K S Eshwarappa and Jagadish Shettar from the list of candidates, the BJP list for 189 seats did not feature their seats.

Sitting MLAs who have lost out are veteran S Angara from Sullia, Sanjeeva Matandoor of Puttur who was recently embroiled in a controversy, Raghupathy Bhat of Udupi who was at the forefront of the hijab controversy, Lalaji Mendon of Kapu, Halady Srinivas of Kundapura, Goolihatti Shekhar of Hosadurga, Ramanna Lamani of Shirahatti, Anil Benake of Belagavi Uttar and Yadwad Shivalingappa of Ramdurg.

Former IPS officer Bhaskar Rao, who briefly joined the AAP before switching to BJP, has been fielded from Chamarajpet in Bengaluru while former commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike and retired IAS officer Anil Kumar will contest from Koratagere.

Former government official L C Nagaraj, who was accused in the ponzi IMA scam, has been given a ticket from Madhugiri in Tumkur.

The first list includes 32 OBC, 30 SC and 16 ST candidates. “There are nine doctors, 31 post graduates, eight women, five advocates, three academicians, one IAS and one IPS in the list,” Arun Singh said.

Several close associates of Yediyurappa feature in the list apart from his son B Y Vijayendra.

“In Karnataka, the Congress is divided and JDS is sinking, the party is well organised in Karnataka. The atmosphere is in our favour and Congress is busy in management of divisions,” Singh said.

Union Minister, who is a party observer for the Karnataka polls, said the selection of candidates involved an effort to infuse “youthfulness, fresh and future ideas” for the party in the state.

While no father-son duo has been fielded for the polls in the first list, close relatives are in the fray – Ramesh Katti and his nephew Nikhil Katti, the Jarkiholi brothers Ramesh and Balachandra, Ratna Mamani, wife of the late BJP MLA Vishwanath Mamani, all in the Belagavi region.

The party has opted for candidates backed by former Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi for the Belagavi region rather than former BJP Deputy CM Laxman Savadi who has not been given the Athani ticket – it has gone to Congress rebel and sitting MLA Mahesh Kumatahalli.

The BJP is banking on Prime Minister ’s popularity and on the robust nature of the party organisation to return to power in Karnataka, its only bastion in the south.

By introducing 52 new faces, it hopes to beat anti-incumbency. Pradhan stressed on the “freshness” factor in the list. He underlined “youthfulness, freshness, representation for new ideas and leadership for the next generation”.

“We know Karnataka has its own character, it is the citadel of knowledge, citadel of new economy and we are conscious of the fact that the state has a prominent place in India’s economic position in the 21st century. We want a new generation of leaders, fresh leaders and new direction,” he said.

Indicating that the party has high hopes on the strength of its organisation in the state, Pradhan and Arun Singh said the massive outreach programme and the booth-strengthening measures of the party would help it return to power.