Who Are The 'New' BJP Candidates in Karnataka Polls & Why Were They Chosen?
The Karnataka Assembly elections are scheduled to take place in a single phase on 10 May.
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BS Yediyurappa's son BS Vijayendra with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The BJP had, at the last minute, declined the Varuna Assembly ticket to Vijayendra in the 2018 elections. While Yediyurappa, the Lingayat strongman, has quit electoral politics, his continued campaigning for the BJP was partially conditional on his son getting a ticket.
Vijayendra will be contesting from his father's seat of Shikaripur.
(Photo: Twitter)
Yashpal Suvarna will be contesting from Udupi.
The vice-President of the Development Committee of the Udupi Government PU Girls’ College, where the hijab controversy had started, Suvarna has been president of the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts’ Cooperative Fish Marketing Federation for the last 13 years.
Suvarna is believed to have orchestrated the saffron shawl protests that sought a hijab ban in Karnataka's educational institutions.
Suvarna belongs to the Mogaveera community, a part of the OBC list.
(Photo: Twitter)
Minister of Tourism Anand Singh has made way for his son Siddharth Singh who is to contest from Vijayanagara.
Anand Singh was one of the 17 MLAs to resign from the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2019, which ultimately led to the formation of the BJP government in the state.
Singh was elected in the 2019 by-elections for the fourth consecutive time. However, it seems, the BJP hopes his son can carry forward through his father's popularity.
(Photo: Facebook/@Anand Singh Siddartha Singh)
Ratna Mamani, wife of late BJP MLA and Deputy Speaker of Assembly Anand Mamani, got the party ticket from the Saundatti-Yellamma constituency, as promised by CM Basavaraj Bommai in December 2022.
(Photo: Facebook/@ratnaanandmamani)
Bhagirathi Murulya, was given the party ticket from Sullia, leaving the incumbent MLA and Minister S Angara out of the race. The decision has come as a shock to many as Angara was considered a strong candidate in the region.
49-year-old Murulya rose through the ranks to be nominated as the candidate this time. She had served as zilla panchayat member from the Jalsur constituency from 2005 to 2010. . She is presently serving as BJP Mahila Morcha executive member.
Her candidacy, however, has come at a cost to the party. Fisheries Minister and seven time MLA S Angara quit politics on 12 April, a day after he was left out from the candidates list. He said that he was pained he was not even consulted before denial of a ticket.
(Photo: Facebook)
Ashok Jayaram, son of former minister SD Jayaram, was denied a ticket when he was in the JD(S). He then joined Congress. However, seeing his chances of securing a ticket from Mandya, Jayaram jumped ship and joined the BJP in May 2022.
He will be contesting from Mandya.
(Photo: Twitter/@ashoksj)
CK Ramamurthy, a former BBMP Corporator from Jayanagar, will be contesting from the Jayanagar seat.
The aspirant and the party are betting on his work as a BBMP Corporator to help him win.
(Photo: Screenshot)
Sathish Kumpala, who completed his training from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has risen through the ranks to become a prominent youth leader for the BJP.
He will be contesting from Mangaluru. The strategy behind fielding him could be to prevent Hindu votes from going to Congress' UT Khader.
Kumpala is also a member of the Billawa community, and his candidature can attract votes of this caste.
(Photo: Facebook)
Bhaskar Rao, former Police Commissioner of Bangalore, had taken voluntary retirement to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in April last year and was the party state vice-president.
However, alleging that there was no "growth" in AAP, the former top cop joined the BJP in March this year. He will now contest from Bangalore's Chamrajpet.
(Photo: Screenshot/Instagram)
Devaraje Gowda will be contesting from Holenarasipur, considered to be a stronghold of the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) owing to the fact the party's patriarch HD Deve Gowda had begun his politics from the region.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
Retired IAS officer Anil Kumar, a former additional chief secretary who was also the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commissioner, will contest from Koratagere, an SC reserved seat, against Congress' G Parameshwara.
(Photo: Facebook)
The BJP has given a ticket to late Umesh Vishwanath Katti's son Nikhil Katti from the Hukkeri seat, from where his father had won eight times consecutively.
Umesh Katti was a powerful figure in North Karnataka, and BJP seems to be betting on sympathy votes for Katti's son after the former MLA passed away in 2022.
(Photo: Screenshot)
While Umesh Katti's brother Ramesh Katti was also eyeing the Hukkeri constituency, the BJP has given Ramesh a ticket from the Chikkodi - Sadalga seat.
(Photo: Facebook)
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