The Congress in Karnataka has denied a ticket to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from the Kolar Assembly constituency in the state. In the third list of candidates released by the Congress on Saturday, April 15, the party has named Kothur G Manjunath as its candidate in Kolar.
The decision ends months of speculation that Siddaramaiah would contest from Kolar. The senior party leader had insisted multiple times that he plans to contest from Kolar even as the party’s high command asked him to drop the plan and contest in Varuna, which is considered a safer bet. The BJP had sprung a surprise by fielding V Somanna, a sitting minister as Siddaramaiah’s opponent in the Varuna constituency.
Siddaramaiah held a series of meetings on Friday, April 14, discussing the issue of contesting from Kolar with his close confidantes. Sources said senior party leaders KJ George and Byrathi Suresh were present in the meeting where it was decided that Siddaramaiah would focus on contesting in Varuna.
The Congress has also finalised Laxman Savadi, who joined the party from the BJP on Friday, as its candidate from the Athani constituency. Savadi, who was the Deputy Chief Minister from 2019 to 2021, recently resigned from the BJP after he was denied a ticket to contest from Athani. The Congress has fielded Shivalinge Gowda, who joined from JD(S) in March, as its candidate in Arsikere. In Shikaripura, the Congress has decided to field local leader GB Malatesh again, this time against BY Vijayendra. Malatesh had contested the elections for the first time in 2018 taking on the veteran BS Yediyurappa and lost.
In coastal Karnataka, the Congress has opted to field JR Lobo in Mangaluru (South), Uday Shetty in Karkala, Congress veteran Maragaret Alva's son Nivedith in Kumta and Ashok Kumar Rai in Puttur constituency. Others in the fray for the party include Nayana Jhawar (Mudigere) and Kusumavathi Shivalli in Kundgol. The ticket for Terdal constituency in Bagalkot was given to Siddappa R Konnur, leaving former Minster Umashree disappointed. In Arebhavi, former KAS officer and losing contestant in 2018, Arvind Dalwai will once again face sitting MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi of the BJP.
The Congress also announced RV Devaraju for Chickpet, Umapathi Srinivas Gowda for Bommanahalli, RK Ramesh for Bangalore South and Dhanajaya Gangadharaiah for Dasarahalli. In Hassan, Congress has fielded Banavasi Rangaswamy and chose K Harish Gowda over former MLA Vasu for the Chamaraja constituency in Mysuru.
With the release of its third list of candidates, the Congress has now confirmed its candidates in 209 constituencies in the state. The BJP has named candidates in 212 assembly constituencies while the JD(S) has named candidates in 149 constituencies in the state. Karnataka will go to polls on May 10 with results set to be announced on May 13. The last day for filing nominations is April 20 and the last date for withdrawal is April 24.