Bengaluru, Jul 29: The BJP is likely to field new faces by denying tickets to some sitting MPs in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections to counter the antiincumbency factor.

Sources said though it’s too early to talk about it, the party is considering changing candidates in a few seats, especially in the Mumbai-Karnataka region. “All sitting BJP MPs from the Mumbai-Karnataka region have won more than three to four times. There’ll be an anti-incumbency factor against them. Therefore, the party may decide on fielding new faces as it did in Gujarat and other states,” said a BJP leader.
Belagavi MP Suresh Angadi, Bagalkot MP P C Gaddigoudar, Bijapur MP Ramesh Jigajinagi and Uttara Kannada MP Anantkumar Hegde have won more than three times and the party may deny some of them tickets. “A final decision will be taken only after getting a ground report. The survey on performance of MPs and people’s opinion is already being done,” said another leader.
There are also murmurs in BJP circles that Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje and Bengaluru North MP DV Sadananda Gowda may swap constituencies or one may not contest at all. She is said to be keen on returning to state politics and has been lobbying for getting herself nominated to the legislative council and has conveyed it to the high command.
Gowda is considering contesting from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru as he is unsure of his victory from Bengaluru North, which he represents. Of eight assembly segments that fall under Bengaluru North, five are represented by Congress and one by JD(S) MLAs. The BJP has just one MLA in CN Ashwathnarayan from Malleswaram.
It’s not easy for Gowda to shift to Udupi-Chikkamagaluru as there are three strong contenders in K Jayaprakash Shetty, who represented the seat once before losing it to Karandlaje. Besides, Karandlaje is persuading Chikkamagaluru MLA CT Ravi to contest the LS election here.
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