By India Blooms News Service Apr 12, 2023
Bengaluru/IBNS: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its first list of 189 candidates for the Karnataka assembly election.
While several MLAs have been dropped this time, Congress turncoats were chosen in the first list.
A second list will come soon, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said.
R Ashok will contest from his home seat Padmanabhanagar and Kanakapura, where he will face the state Congress chief DK Shivakumar. V Somanna will face off against Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Varuna. Somanna will also contest from a second seat, Chamarajnagar.
The BJPs election committee including Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Delhi over the weekend to finalise the names. Karnataka has 224 assembly seats.
The Central Election Committee of the BJP has decided the names of 189 candidates, in the first list, for the ensuing general elections to the legislative assembly of Karnataka. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/RhGFuhCWwS
BJP (@BJP4India) April 11, 2023
Bommai will contest from the Shiggaon constituency, his current seat.
BY Vijayendra, the son of former Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa, will contest from the Shikaripura seat, the same constituency where his father had won seven times since 1983. State minister B Sriramulu will contest from Bellary Rural.
In Udupi, a key coastal town, Yashpal Suvarna will contest for the first time in place of the current MLA Raghupathi Bhat.
Suvarna had aggressively campaigned for a hijab ban. He is seen as a rising star among his local supporters. His claim to fame also includes activism in cow protection.
Karnataka will vote for a new government on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.