Key LS seats in Karnataka to watch out for

Bengaluru: The following are the key seats to watch out for in the 2-phase Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka. Polls will be held on April 26 and May 7.

Hassan

It’s the home turf of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. His grandson Prajwal Revanna is sitting MP and is expected to be the joint candidate of the BJP-JD(S) alliance. The Congress has named 31-year-old Shreyas M Patel, the grandson of former Minister late G Puttaswamy Gowda.

Deve Gowda and Puttaswamy Gowda had fought against each other in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the past. Patel had lost the Holenarsipur seat in Assembly polls last year by about 3,000 votes to Deve Gowda’s son and former Minister and five-time MLA H D Revanna. Puttaswamy Gowda and his daughter-in-law S G Anupama too had contested against Revanna in the past.

Gulbarga

Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge lost the 2019 polls to BJP’s Umesh Jadhav in this SC reserved segment -- his first electoral loss in his political life spanning several decades. The octogenarian’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is likely to be fielded this time, according to sources. Kharge, currently the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, was elected to Lok Sabha from here twice. Jadhav has been re-nominated by the BJP. 

Bangalore South

BJP Youth Wing president Tejasvi Surya was elected in 2019 at the age of 28, defeating Congress leader B K Hariprasad.

A BJP bastion for the past more than three decades, former Union Minister late H N Ananth Kumar represented this urban constituency with a sizeable population of Brahmins for a record six times from 1996. The Congress is likely to field former Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy, daughter of Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, according to party sources.

Bangalore Rural

This is the only constituency in Karnataka from where the Congress won in the 2019 elections. The sitting MP, D K Suresh, who is the brother of state Congress chief and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, has been fielded again.

He defeated former MLA Anitha Kumaraswamy in the 2013 bypoll after her husband and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy resigned from Lok Sabha following his win in the Assembly elections that year, and was re-elected in 2014 general elections. The BJP-JD(S) combine fielded noted cardiac surgeon C N Manjunath, who is the son-in-law of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, in this Vokkaliga-dominated segment. Manjunath, who is contesting on BJP symbol, had headed the state-owned Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research for 17 years before retiring in January this year.

Shimoga

Senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa announcing on March 15 that he would contest as an independent has spiced up the poll scene. He has squarely blamed BJP Parliamentary Board member and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa for his son K E Kantesh not being given ticket to contest the Haveri seat.

Eshwarappa, a former deputy Chief Minister who had also headed the State unit, will take on Yediyurappa’s son and incumbent MP, B Y Raghavendra. The Congress has fielded Geetha Shivarajkumar, wife of leading Kannada actor Shivarajkumar here.

Geetha is daughter of former Chief Minister late S Bangarappa and daughter-in-law of Kannada thespian late Dr. Rajkumar.

Mandya

The Vokkaliga dominated seat is known for rivalry between Congress and JD(S) to gain upper hand. BJP too has been putting strong efforts to make inroads over the years.

Multilingual actress turned-politician Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent candidate backed by the BJP, had won the seat in 2019 by defeating JD(S)’ Nikhil Kumaraswamy (son of former CM H D Kumaraswamy and grandson of Deve Gowda).

He was joint candidate of Congress-JD(S) alliance which was then in power in the state. Sumalatha is seeking BJP’s ticket for re-election from the seat that was earlier represented by her late husband M H Ambareesh, a popular film star and an icon in Mandya. However, according to sources, the BJP has alloted the seat to JD(S), which is likely to field Nikhil Kumaraswamy again or former MP C S Puttaraju. 

Dharwad

Union Minister for Coal and Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, a four time MP, is the sitting Lok Sabha member from here, and has been fielded again. He defeated Congress leader Vinay Kulkarni, in 2014 and 2019 by over one lakh votes. The Congress is yet to name its candidate.

Mysore

The BJP denied ticket to incumbent MP Pratap Simmha and fielded the scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, who is entering the poll fray for the first time. It’s the home district of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The Congress is yet to name its candidate.