Karnataka poll watch: Rajya Sabha nominations, candidate screening and more

Assembly polls in Karnataka are just months away, and the current Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state will finish its full term of five years on May 28 – a feat no party has managed since 1985. But will the Congress manage to fight anti-incumbency in the one of the few states it governs in India following the Modi wave? Will the Yeddyurappa-led BJP pull off a win in the state under Amit Shah’s watchful eye? And will HD Kumaraswamy’s JD(S) get to a position where they can play kingmaker in Karnataka once again?

In the run up to the biggest election of 2018, TNM brings you Poll Watch every Monday and Thursday. It will be your one stop shop for all the updates on the campaigns, manifestos, and politicking ahead of the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections.

Here are this week’s updates:

• On Monday, both BJP and Congress candidates in Karnataka filed their nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls.
• The Congress has fielded three candidates – Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Vice President L Hanumanthaiah, AICC Spokesperson Naseer Hussain and Political Secretary to KPCC President GC Chandrashekar.
• The BJP has fielded Rajeev Chandrasekhar, while the JD(S) has fielded businessman BM Farooq.
• The Congress has chosen ‘Kannadiga’ candidates as the party is planning to swing votes by playing the pro-Kannada stance to counter the BJP’s Hindutva agenda. The Congress has chosen the Dalit-Minority-Vokkaliga caste combination to appease these vote banks for the upcoming Assembly elections.
• Rebel JD(S) leader N Cheluvarayaswamy on Sunday announced that seven leaders from the party including him will officially join the Congress on March 25. The JD(S) had suspended the leaders for cross voting during the biennial Rajya Sabha elections in 2016. The Congress had poached the rebel leaders by promising them tickets to the upcoming Assembly polls
• BJP state General Secretary N Ravikumar has made a controversial statement by calling Dakshina Kannada district incharge Minister Ramanath Rai, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister UT Khader “terrorists.” “Just looking at the ministers from the coastal district gives you a clue about the place. According to me, the ministers in coastal Karnataka – Ramanath Rai and UT Khader – are no less than any terrorist,” he had said at the BJP Law and Parliamentary Affairs meeting.
• Strongly reacting to Ravikumar’s statement, UT Khader said that the BJP leaders would go to any extent to gain attention. “We don’t take these comments seriously. The people of this district know who we are and what we have done. For the sake of power, BJP will even endorse terrorists. It is even seen supporting extremists in Assam, Nagaland and Tripura. The party has allied with Bodoland People’s Front in Assam, National Democratic Front in Nagaland,” Khader said.
• On Saturday, over 1000 Kasavanahalli residents of all ages – armed with placards –  formed a human chain between Amrutha College to Play Arena. Frustrated residents carried placards that stated that they have no other choice but to vote for NOTA in the upcoming elections as their leaders had failed to provide them with basic amenities like water and good roads.
• On Friday, the Congress Election Screening Committee head Madhusudan Mistry was in Bengaluru to conduct informal interviews with ticket aspirants for the upcoming elections. Mistry’s meeting with the Congress candidate selection committee has decided only to field winnable candidates. “Only the candidates who have ground-level support, match the caste combination of the constituency and knows what to do to win in the said constituency will be given the ticket,” sources said.