Bengaluru: The Congress and BJP will lock horns on the electoral battleground again in less than a fortnight in Karnataka, as the stage is set for the second phase of elections in the 14 remaining Lok Sabha seats on Tuesday.
It is going to be a straight fight between the ruling Congress and BJP in Parliamentary segments in the northern districts. The JD(S) is not contesting in these seats and is supporting its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner -- the BJP.
The state has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The first phase of polling in 14 seats in most of the southern and coastal districts was held on April 26.
A total of 227 candidates -- 206 men and 21 women -- are in the fray for the second phase.
More than 2.59 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 28,269 polling stations where voting will take place between 7 am to 6 pm.
The segments where elections will be held on Tuesday are: Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davangere and Shimoga.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had swept all these 14 seats, defeating Congress and JD(S), which were in alliance and ruling the state then.
Having scored a thumping victory in the Assembly elections last year, the Congress now appears determined to put up a strong show.
Karnataka is the most important state for the BJP in south India as it's only here that it has held power in the past.
Speaking to PTI, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena said adequate security arrangements have been made for Tuesday's polling.
"Around 1.45 lakh polling officials have been deployed across the 14 constituencies. In addition, 35,000 civil police personnel, 65 companies of Central Paramilitary forces and armed police of other states will be deployed for the polling day," he said.
Besides this, 4,000 micro-observers will also be on duty and 17,000 polling stations will be covered by webcasting, he added.
Davangere has the maximum number of 30 candidates, followed by 23 in Shimoga and Raichur has the least number - eight.
Former Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri) and Jagadish Shettar (Balgaum), Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and Bhagwanth Khuba (Bidar) -- all from BJP; Congress' Geetha Shivrajkumar (Shimoga) -- wife of actor Shivrajkumar and daughter of former CM S Bangarappa and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani (Gulbarga), are among the prominent names in the fray.
Also in the contest are MP and veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra, suspended party leader and former Deputy CM K S Eshwarappa -- both from Shimoga, former Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and ex-Minister B Sreeramulu of BJP from Uttara Kannada and Bellary respectively and retired IAS officer G Kumar Naik of Congress from Raichur.
Stakes are high for several Ministers in this phase with their children in fray.
Sons of Ministers Laxmi Hebbalkar and Eshwar Khandre - Mrinal Ravindra Hebbalkar and Sagar Khandre - are contesting from Belgaum and Bidar respectively, while daughters of Ministers Satish Jarkiholi and Shivanand Patil -Priyanka Jarkiholi and Samyukta Patil- are in contention in Chikkodi and Bagalkot respectively.
Prabha Mallikarjun, wife of Minister S S Mallikarjun and daughter-in-law of veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, is in the fray from Davangere.
The Congress' performance in the elections, especially in the second phase which covers almost all Lingayat-dominated districts, is crucial, as the party did not win one of them in 2019, and to also check whether the grand old party has managed to retain the support of a section of Lingayats -- considered as the BJP's core vote-base -- which seemed to have somewhat shifted towards it in the 2023 Assembly polls.
The Lok Sabha election is being seen as a big test of sorts for Congress state unit chief D K Shivakumar, who has made no secret of his ambition to become chief minister, amid speculations of change in guard mid-way of the Assembly term. The stakes are also high for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, as victory in this election is seen as key to strengthening his hands, analysts say.
It is also seen as a kind of a "litmus test" for state BJP president B Y Vijayendra, who has the onerous task of helping the party retain its supremacy in the Lok Sabha polls, by regaining its traditional Lingayat vote-base.
Ensuring a BJP sweep is paramount for the son of veteran leader B S Yediyurappa, to consolidate his position and silence critics who have questioned his selection to the post, overlooking seniors and seasoned hands.
The ruling Congress is mostly banking on the implementation of its populist five guarantee schemes while the BJP seems to be leveraging the "Modi factor" to the hilt.
Comments
Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....
We heard this many times
and many people were fooled in the beginning.
and many people still believed again & again.
and a lot of FOOLS still believe it again and again.
Dear FOOLS
Please use your intellect and dont FOOLs yourself from the FOOLs who make such statements to hide their deception.
\Stop Politics of Hate\" The upcoming Campaign of PFI.
Mr.Pratap Simha ( huli, karadi, chirathe, whatever you are)
For your kind knowledge this time Popular Front Expose you Badly..!!
#I am with Popular Front"
Oh My godse.. Jayanna Quarter parth japley.. You are fit to drink that and talk all nonsense. :D Grow up read your books and learn sanskrit and understand what your religion advises.. Ad bittu u sit up get up antha yakappa helthiya.. Swalpa samadana irli guruwe illadrey chaddi galu ninannu hudki barbahudu praveenannu hundkond banda hagey.
Dear Pratap, You won the election because of them. Don't forget the help. Or else A H Vishwanath will won the battle.
Jayaraj.....be cool.....dont spoil your health, by increasing the BP......your help is required to keep Meat bag in Naga Bana ....Pramod Muthalik is badly in need of you .... He will pay 30 laks to start the riots ....
Jayaraj Madekieri well said, he is real lion not human so he should be in zoo or in forest...
Jayarajanna you RSS Criminal Looters speaking about peace in HINDUSTAN!!!!!!!you Buffoons Fantastic citizen of Hindustan.
Great speaking to back up of Chilli branded Master Criminal Pratap no legal right, let him resign his position, 'Every Dogs gets his own Time\ Master Jayarajanna."
@abdul ahad just shut up!!! what is your organisation up to, will demolish in single minute, we always wanted peace in our country. but the man like you always dominating us in every standpoint. what u do if someone coming to your home and bossing u. will
It was during the time of 1998 i remember many innocent Muslims were killed in anti muslim riots across mangalore at that time there were no organisation came forward to resist against the rioters only all believed in police, administration and the so called Secular political party leaders, but no one came for saving the lives of innocent people. Alhumdulillah today because of some muslim group's efforts and continues resistance communal riots reduced drastically.!!!
Jayaraj, where were you when Modi visited Pakistan to make friendship with them and your own Ravishankar said \Pakistan Zindabad\", did anyone tried to put sedition charges against him....you guys as always talk rubbish and garbage...."
Jayaraj, just shut up!
We have seen a lot of unrest and unpleasant condition due to Bajrangies and other sangh pariwar terrorism activities....has government planned to ban these outfits....
Due to Pfi and kfd, communal forces facing setback across india. Long live pfi, kfd.
@sk u shut your mouth, its none of your business. u people always support antinational activities like now its going on ramya's issue. you are the first one to support this all the time.
Ryan DCosta .....what made you to stop naming the every groups to be banned ???????.....
What Happend Prathap ? Is there any election nearby ? I doubt so, coz you open up only when there is election or allegations on your Chaddis. Otherwise people at mysore dont even remember you are an elected MP.
Mr.Pratap
Couple of days back members of one of the famous terrorist organisation i.e Bajarangdal and VHP murdered Praveen poojary in the name of GOW rakhshaks. Where were you that time??? Why didn't you make any press conference and tell government to Ban BD & VHP.
My suggestion is to you that if government of India BAN BD,RSS,VHP,RS then automatically peace will establish.
So PFI on right track. Chances of BJP and chaddi parivaar are minimizing to create communal violence and violation of harmony in State.
So finally this Simha accepted that PFI is the big threat of BJP and Chaddi parivaar.
Why only PFI,KFD Ban all RSS,BD,VHP,Nakali Gou Rakshaka, all should be banned.
The person who belongs to terrorist group is speaking about terror... good joke...
NO PFI or KFD person caught in terror attack but its clear that RSS & BJP workers caught in so many terror attack in India & preparing bomb, explosives.... RSS is taking our India to terror hub & spoiling harmony among people.....
public should unite against such organisation & stop electing person as our representative who spread hatred among communities... Government should arrest all RSS chaddis who are involved in illegal activities & hang them....
yes absolutely well said mr. pratap, not only karnataka the whole country is turning into a safe haven for saffron terrorists like rss, srs, bd, vhp, even student wing too like abvp.
recently we heard so many incidents like babri to dadri, minorities to dalits, human to animal, etc.etc. who done these atrocities pfi, kfd or rss, bd,vhp????
mr. pratap, as a mp did u raised any single voice in the parliament? regarding the above mentioned issue? no you dont why? because it was done by your saffron terrorists. shame on you. people have voted you to talk their problems in the parliament no to bark in the society. better you to resign from mp and serve the society to maintain peace and harmony.
Super Simhaji well said, your are the real lion of our state.
Every group should be banned. not only pfi,kfd. Terrorist are there in every group.
Your sanghi's atrocities have grown uncontrolled. You people are imposing your lifestyle on others.
These groups are formed too defend victims of your atrocities they are doing good job in helping all needy hands.
First of all your dirty mined groups should be eliminated.
then automatically every feed fending group will relax voluntarily
Lol.. Naya bander sheher mey.. Abey beta pehley thu apni bageecha mey dekh aur samja khar kitna ghand hey tujmey.. Pata poster nikhla bander :D
Getting upset after the heinous murders of Praveen poojary, harish, Baliga, Prashant , many school girls.... Has to make some bow,bow... ..for publicity .....Shameless creatures ....
HAHAHAHA....
Ulta chor kotwal ku daante!!!!
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