The BJP in Karnataka finalised their candidates for the May 19 Assembly bye-polls in two seats in north Karnataka after the Congress had already named their candidates on Saturday. The last date for filing nominations for these two seats is April 29. Counting of votes will be done on May 23, the same day the nationwide results of Lok Sabha elections will be declared.
In Kundgol, the BJP has gone with SI Chikkanagowdar, a key aide of BS Yeddyurappa in the hope of succeeding late sitting minister CS Shivalli who had won from the constituency two times successively. He will face Kusumavati, wife of former Municipal Administration Minister.
Shivalli, who was the former MLA of Kundgol, passed away in March 2019. The Congress is hoping to bank on the goodwill enjoyed by Shivalli in the region by fielding his wife Kusumavati.
Another seat which is going for bye-polls is Chincholi in Kalaburagi district after Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav resigned from his position and had contested the Lok Sabha elections against Congress heavyweight Mallikarjun Kharge as the BJP candidate.
The BJP has fielded Umesh’s son Avinash from the seat in the hope of adding their tally of 104 seats in the state Assembly. Avinash will face Subhas Rathod, the Congress candidate. Incidentally, Rathod was in the BJP until late March before joining the Congress. Both the Yadavs and Rathod belong to the same Lambani community who are influential in the region.
The bye-elections come at a time that the BJP is attempting to usurp power from the coalition government in the state. The coalition government has been on shaky ground ever since four Congress leaders including Ramesh Jarkiholi skipped a crucial party legislature meeting in January.
The coalition government has managed to ward off BJP's reported attempts to convince more members of the alliance to defect. Shivalli's death means that the strength of the coalition in the Assembly is now 117 which includes 79 Congress MLAs, 37 JD(S) MLAs and 1 BSP MLA.