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
South Kanara police are doing wonderful job around...now they must take action against those bajrangies who had done ugly job around this incident....
In this case book the hate mongers and levy heavy penalty on them. They should be jailed for not less than 10 years with penalty of not less that 50 lacs for the loss of property done by the follower of these hate mongers. Take away their voting right and kick them out of karnataka.
If there are no instances of forcible conversions, what action they are going to take against those who accuse without any evidences? What action they are going to take against those hate mongers who incite communal hatred by using falsified allegations? At least a warning that it won't be repeated again or an public apology?
Now a days, Poojary's, Shankaracharya's Are converting to islam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rJZWrX-fzk
Crorepati acharya Sanjay dwiwedi, who converted to islam, and preaching islam. Now leading a common life
@viren
UK's No 1 News channel
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343954/100-000-Islam-converts-…
There is no force involved to convert to islam in anywhere of
If nothing is found by the Police, then why these dogs are barking in Kalladka ???/ ...
Dear brother Viren Naren
Please use your intellect that God has given U before it perishes with God's permission... Atleast PONDER on what PREM says and research on it before spreading your VeNOM without knowledge of ISLAM in this forum...
TRUTH will prevail however u try to deceive people... Anyway try your best but also note that U need to look into QURAN before making enemies with the TRUTH.
Without knowledge of your enemy ... U look Dumb.
Viren Kotian,
Who's forcing you to accept Islam???
But, you can be booked for inciting communal hatred between communities using this forum.
Prem and true (anti) Indian are doing religious propaganda here. coastaldigest.com should not entertain such comments. This is not a religious forum. They are encouraging religious conversions. DK police should take necessary action against such comments.
ISLAM is the only religion accepted by God...
Eternal life begins when death happens...
Dont worship the creation of God, thats the only sin which will not be forgiven by God... (associating partners with God...)
Know who is our CREATOR before bowing down to created things..
God is merciful and most compassionate... A honest heart will find God if his intention is right to know about God...
To know about God and his attributes read religious scripture specially the QURAN (the quranproject online) a manual to MANKIND... Read to understand about Creator not to Hate... please, as a human brother ... keep away your hatred and make effort to know who is our CREATOR rather than falling prey to some hate mongers...
USE YOUR GOD GIVEN INTELLECT...
Surah barakah 2:256
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion.
Forcing anyone to convert is not allowed in islam.
No other religion book says so.
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