The Bharatiya Janata Party, on Thursday, announced its first list of candidates from Karnataka for the Lok Sabha elections. As expected, of the 21 names announced, 14 sitting MPs were nominated once again from their respective constituencies. The party has to announce names for 8 more seats.
This includes five-time MP Anantkumar Hegde who is seeking re-election from the Uttara Kannada constituency. Minister of Statistics and Fertilizers DV Sadanada Gowda will also recontest from Bangalore North and PC Mohan from Bangalore Central. Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel will aslo seek reelection for the third time.
Pratap Simha, a journalist turned politician will contest again from Mysore-Kodagu, a seat that he won last time. Udupi-Chikmagalur MP and former state minister Shobha Karandlaje will also re-contest.
In north Karnataka, Parvatagouda C Gaddigoudar, Ramesh Chandappa and Suresh Chanabasappa have got the assent once more to contest from Bagalotkot, Bijapur and Belgaum seats.
Umesh Jadhav and A Manju, leaders who defected from the Congress recently, have got their candidature from Gulbarga and Hassan respectively.
BY Raghavendra who won the recent byepolls in Shimoga will also get to recontest from the same seat held by his father and BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa.
BN Bachchegpwda will contest from Chikkballapur while Srinivas Prasad will seek election from Chamrajangar.
Interestingly, the party has not yet named a candidate from the Mandya constituency. The state unit of the party had recommended the party's central leadership to not contest the elections from Mandya. Mandya is seeing a high profile fight between Nikhil Gowda, son of HD Kumaraswamy and Sumalatha, wife of former Congress leader Ambareesh who is contesting as an independent. A few BJP leaders want the party to support Sumalatha.
The BJP is also trying to break into the bastions of the JD(S)-Congress alliance by fielding Congress rebel A Manju in Hassan. He will contest against Prajwal Revanna, another grandson of HD Deve Gowda.