The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) first list of candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections has left many leaders and sitting MLAs miffed as they hoped to earn a party ticket. Protests have erupted in various constituencies by supporters of leaders whose names were not included in the list. Police were deployed to the residence of Minister R Ashoka as supporters of NR Ramesh staged a protest there. Ramesh, who is the BJP’s Bengaluru South president, was vying to contest in the elections from Jayanagar in Bengaluru, but the ticket was given to CK Ramamurthy.
In Belagavi’s Ramdurg, protests erupted on Tuesday night after sitting MLA Mahadevappa Yadawad was denied a party ticket. Instead, the party chose newcomer Chikka Revanna to contest from Ramdurg. Videos of the protest showed hundreds of Yadawad’s supporters raising slogans against the BJP. Meanwhile, BJP leader Laxman Savadi broke down on camera after the announcement of candidates, which did not include his name. Savadi had been campaigning within the party to be allowed to contest from Athani. He was snubbed when the ticket was instead given to Mahesh Kumatalli. In Vijayanagara, sitting MLA Anand Singh has given up his seat for his son Siddharth.
Eight sitting MLAs have been denied tickets by the BJP. Sitting MLA of Belagavi North Anil Benake has made way for Ravi Patil, while Mahadevappa Yadawad had to make way for Chikka Revanna in Ramdurg. In Shirahatti, Ramanna Lamani was replaced by Chandru Lamani. Hosadurga MLA Goolihatti Shekar has been replaced by S Lingamurthy and Udupi MLA Raghupathy Bhat has been denied a ticket in favour of Yashpal Suvarna. In Kapu, Lalji Mendon has been replaced by Gurme Suresh Shetty, while sitting MLA of Puttur Sanjeev Matandur has been replaced by Asha Thimappa. In Sullia, sitting MLA and Fisheries Minister S Angara has been replaced by Bhagirathi Murulya. Angara, a senior BJP leader and six-term MLA, announced his retirement from electoral politics after he did not make the cut.
#Protests erupt after #BJP announces their first list. Supporters of NR Ramesh pour their anger against senior leaders R Ashok & BY Vijayendra. NR Ramesh was eyeing for Jayanagar ticket. #Karnataka #KarnatakaElections2023 pic.twitter.com/X0hNvPY0ch
— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) April 11, 2023
#BJP MLA Mahadevappa Yadawad supporters protest in #Ramdurg #Belagavi over ticket being denied. BJP has given ticket to Chikka Revana who joined the BJP recently. pic.twitter.com/pkFKuVcpVI
— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) April 11, 2023
In Kundapura, BJP has expectedly given a ticket to Kiran Kumar Kodgi, son of late senior leader A Gopalkrishna Kodgi. A few days ago, BJP sitting MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty announced that he would be stepping down from electoral politics.
The BJP’s list of candidates includes many sitting ministers and MLAs. The party said it is attempting to launch fresh faces in this election and has included the names of 52 fresh faces. Significantly, BS Yediyurappa’s son will contest from his father’s stronghold of Shikaripura, while minister R Ashoka will take on Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar in Kanakapura and V Somanna will contest against former CM Siddaramaiah in Varuna.
Even before the announcement of the list was announced, former Minister KS Eshwarappa (Shivamogga constituency) announced that he was stepping down from electoral politics, while former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar (Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency) said he had been asked by the party to step aside and make way for others. This confirmed the news that several sitting MLAs of the BJP would be asked not to contest. While Eshwarappa seemed to have given in and announced his resignation, Shettar remained insistent that he would contest. The BJP has not announced candidates for both constituencies
Several legislators who had defected from Congress and JD(S) in 2019 have been given tickets, including K Sudhakar, Muniratna, Byrathi Basavaraj, and M Narayana Gowda.