8 New Faces, 9 MPs Replaced: Why a Rebellion Is Brewing Within Karnataka BJP

The BJP released the names of 20 candidates of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka on Wednesday, 13 March. While Shobha Karandlaje has been moved from the Udupi-Chikmaguluru seat to Bengaluru North, the sitting Mysuru MP Pratap Simha has been dropped.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

In Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing dissent like never before over the selection of candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Anger has spilled onto the streets with sitting Members of Parliament (MP) expressing strong disapproval after the party dropped them from their posts.

An emotional sitting MP Pratap Simha, representing the Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha seat, went live on Facebook to taunt erstwhile scion of Mysuru's royal family Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar – to whom the party has given the ticket this time – for "emerging from his air-conditioned chambers to engage directly with the people."

Bengaluru North MP DV Sadananda Gowda – now dropped – warned that the party's decision to tinker with candidates representing the Vokkaliga community would impact the BJP in 12 districts, where they are in large numbers. Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, who has been shifted from Udupi-Chikmagaluru to Bengaluru North after local party workers opposed her candidature, described it as a "political conspiracy" against her.

The BJP released the names of 20 candidates of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka on Wednesday, 13 March. Among the eight constituencies where the names are yet to be announced, the Janata Dal (Secular), which is its electoral ally, is expected to get two to three seats.

The yet-to-be-announced constituencies are Kolar, Chikballapur, Mandya, Hassan, Chitradurga, Belagavi, Raichur, and Uttara Kannada. The JD(S) has asked for Kolar, Mandya, and Hassan seats.

Wadiyar Replaces Simha

In the list of 20 candidates, the party has brought in eight new faces and replaced nine sitting MPs.

Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar leads the list of the heavyweight candidates; his candidature makes the Mysuru-Kodagu constituency a key one.

Wadiyar was also reportedly approached by the Congress as the seat was represented by his great-uncle Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, who was the Congress MP for four terms. He had lost the seat when he switched to the BJP in the 1991 Parliamentary polls.

Yaduveer Gopal Raj Urs was rechristened as Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar in March 2015 after the titular Maharani Pramoda Devi, wife of Srikanth Datta Wadiyar, adopted him as her son. Yaduveer is the 27th Maharaja to the 700-year-old Wadiyar dynasty.

Wadiyar is replacing Pratap Simha, who came under fire for signing the passes to those who intruded the Parliament in a major security breach in December 2023. Simha, a journalist, was picked up by the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and was renominated in 2019. The local BJP workers were upset with him as he was inaccessible, though Simha brought out a report card of his performance as an MP to buttress his claim to the seat again.

Meanwhile, noted cardiologist Manjunath, who is the son-in-law of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, is seeking election from Bengaluru Rural, which has been the impregnable fortress of the DK brothers – Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and his brother and sitting MP DK Suresh. The latter has been renominated by the Congress to contest from Bengaluru Rural.

When Manjunath retired after a 35-year-long career at the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences in Bengaluru in January 2024, there was speculation of him taking the plunge into electoral politics.

But what has surprised all is that he will be contesting on a BJP ticket, when he is from the JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda's family. Manjunath told the media the reason was that the BJP offered him "a bigger platform, where one can pitch ideas and work to turn them into realities."

Key Contests

The Udupi-Chikkamagaluru seat has also became a bone of contention between sitting MP Shobha Karandlaje and former MLA CT Ravi. After losing in the Assembly polls, Ravi has reportedly been sidelined by the party, while Karandlaje faced anti-incumbency with party workers shouting "Go back Shobha" when she recently visited the constituency.

There were reports that Karandlaje would be among the ones to be dropped from the list. But the party shifted her to Bengaluru North by dropping former Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, who was also facing anti-incumbency, and at the same time ensuring that the Vokkaligas were not upset. After her name was announced, there were protests in Bengaluru North against her.

In Haveri, former minister KS Eshwarappa had sought the ticket for his son KE Kantesh, which has now been given to former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. An upset Eshwarappa, who represents the Kuruba community, accused BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa of "cheating him" and managing to get tickets for a reluctant Bommai, Karandlaje, and Balraj. Eshwarappa has called a meeting of his followers on Friday, 15 March, and there is a possibility of his son contesting as an Independent from Haveri.

According to BJP sources, it was Yediyurappa who managed to get the tickets for Bommai and Balraj from Chamarajanagar and Karandlaje. BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh, whose political differences with Yediyurappa are public knowledge, suffered a setback in the ticket distribution considering that Eshwarappa and dropped MP Nalin Kumar Kateel from Dakshina Kannada are his supporters.

While there was opposition to Union Minister Bhagavanth Khuba's candidacy in Bidar, the BJP leadership retained him for want of a good replacement.

Among the new faces is 43-year-old Brijesh Chowta contesting from Dakshina Kannada. He served in the Indian Army from 2003 to 2010 and was involved in counter-insurgency operations in Assam and Manipur.

"I owe it to this soil for giving me this opportunity and as a Fauji to all my brothers-in-arms who have laid down their lives for Bharat. So the first place I visited upon announcement, after taking Sharavu Mahaganapati & my parents’ blessings, is the Vijay Diwas War Memorial at Kadri (Dakshina Kannada),'' Chowta said in a post on X.

In Davanagere, the party has fielded another new face, Gayathri Siddeshwar, who is the wife of sitting MP G M Siddeshwar, now aged 71. Here, the political fight has been between two business families – that of Siddeshwar and veteran Congress MLA Shamnur Shivashankarappa. The Congress is likely to give the ticket to one of the women in Shivashankarappa's family. 

The veterans in the field include six-term MP Ramesh C Jigajinagi, who contested thrice from Chikkodi and Bijapur each, and Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, an MP in Dharwad since 2004. The BJP won 25 seats in 2019, a record high since 2004, and is now aiming to sweep all. However, the rebellion within the ranks is a cause of concern to the leadership.