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
If you study Hinduism in deep you will get mad. Like
1.Brahma got married to his daughter
2.Draupadi had affair with Karna.
3.Shiva chopped one head of Brahma
4.Shiva used to take ladies avatar for fun.
5.Ayyappa is the son of shiva & Vishnu.
6.Hanuman got married to crocodile.
7.Shiva failure to recognise his son ganapathy.
In reality following hinduism is like worshipping everything. Creator and his creations.
If you go for study, you will come to know that its an imaginary story not real like cartoons.
Ram is based on kaalpanic story of Valmiki(Thief)
In Sri Lanka there is no evidence of Rama. Its only available in Nagpur.
Good comedy serial the new tele serial mungere lal key haseen sapnee India never sleeps with all such comic episodes.
Dis guy is begging to change the religion hahaha....i dont understand y all saffron groups are so worried abt Muslim.
o barking dogs go to china and pak boarders area save our country...
ONLY Hindus converting to Islam. They know that Islam
IS TRUE religion.
No educated Muslim will Convert to Hinduism. Its impossible.
So stop dreaming. Look vhp's family members might converted to Islam.
Look at ur own house first.
Ondu Manga ninthu yeno bagulatthe adanna kelalu saviraru Mangagalu Kulithive.Yentha Vipariyaasa kanri.
What a Joke sir ji.
We dont want to be with you people in Jahannam.You people carry on.We are happy as a Muslim.
Such a huge majority of population....don't know why they are afraid of minorities....
So now on everyone go and live in jungle....
Where to find ravana....
Should ignore wife and kids in jungle....and can't recognize own kids?..
Really difficult task ....
And what about other gods..... forget them....come on
Rama couldnt save his own wife sita. How can he save u
Barking dog first you try to secure by yourself & your leaders those who are depend under government security.... Muslims dont need protection from you, Alhamdulillah we have one god Allah to protect us...
People like you are 2% in this country barking to spoil the peace & harmony between society.
Do not try to check patience of your own community peace lovers of society... Soon time will come where your bajarangis will start searching to enter space like rats... ha ha ha...
those hindu community k liye kalank hai.... True Hindu tho o hai jo peace lover hai....
@ Senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad Leader... who are you to protect others? You Cannot protect Yourself unless Allah wills... You are the black sheep of Hindu Dharma Coz your thoughts itself indicates that you are an atheist. You don't belong to any religion,
I wonder who will protect you fromAllah if you did not repent and accept Muhammad (peace be upon him) as your prophet
A 'Jain' asking 'Muslims' to convert to 'Hinduism'. Excellent example for communal harmony in feku (i dont mind if you read 'e' as 'a') age.
when Mr Jain converted to Hinduism ? just ignore his lose talk
To know how God created all that exists....
The Non Muslims should read THE QURAN... U will come to understand who is following what.. (U can try thequranproject online)
And to follow Prophets of God ... It needs God's blessing...
Some hate mongers are missing and they even cannot identify whats good and whats bad to the society.
To honest people on EARTH... Just ask once \oh the one who put Soul in me ... GUIDE me...\"
U will surely SEE the real colors of LIFE of who is with whom, if your INTENTION is right... TRY IT.."
Prophet Adam (peace be upon him). Was the first human being came to the earth. So by all means all are in this world should be Muslims. So now if all Hindus revert to Islam we will give you security to eat beef.
Mr. Beans & Mr. Badane of our Mangalore. Please be aware that most of good hindus are not following these goons. Jobless chaddis..oh sorry panties. They could able to gather only this much crowd. Beary nakulna madmed ned dhla jaasti jana barpundu maarre.
mental manja, now the statement clearly says if muslims dont shun islam then they are under threat ?
i cant stop laughing hahahahaha, we dont need the protection of chaddis.
OUR PM has joined with paksitan, will you boycott our PM .
Bloody hypocrites.
This Bullshit has nothing to do... Spreading venom in the society.. and useless govt continuing their silence towards these Sangah Parivaar, Why the Govt can't ban the anti social elements..
Islam is such a golden religion, don't you ever think that in your dreams....
India Ninna Ammena astiya?? Dirty people with dirty culture.
Shia Sunni ok! Dalit, Jain, Brahmins yaake? Y this Kolaveri D thaatha?
Quote\ Jain went on to claim........if they want to remain in India\"
unquote
May be Jain needs treatment in Mental Hospital as he says the above sentence to Hindu brothers & sisters which is impossible and he is fully aware of it.
then why barking ...... ?"
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