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
Islam is not a religion bro, it is a though of Muhammad. Who wrote quran ? Of course it is Muhammad. Muhammad is massanger of allah is mention in quran and quran is truth it is called by Muhammad 😂. Sanatan is only one religion, Omm is only god. Only one god in sanatan. All human are born by sanatan. I pray to god for you to convey vedas. Plls follow vedas
Burnol time for some people here.. Welcome to the Original Religion.
mr thogadia several poor adivasi hundus are embrasing islam and christaianity becuase of your caste system in hinduism. try to help these poor hindus.
Oh yeah!!! IN YOUR DREAMS....right.Happy dreaming Togadia!!!
oh, thogadya got wrong information may be 7.5 lakhs were converted to islam
Togadiya you doesnt know that more than 50 lkh non muslims embraced islam in last 8 years.
Whatever tricks they do to reduce Muslims, But, Allah made Islam to supersede all the religions of the earth. Allah is the best planner.
Mr.Togadiya is just following his master's foot step!! nothing new in his statement, Just look @ our honorable prime minister's statement before election and now?? look at our prime ministers statement when he was on foreign tours and when he is in our country!! only these people are fooling us!! don't give much attention for these types of ill mentality what they called leaders!!
Pravin Togadia being JAIN, why he did not convert to Hinduism before converting others to Hinduism?
Is he loosing his mental stability??
Not only Pakistani Hindus, but, they should bring back to India Srilankan Hindus, Bangladeshi Hindus, Nepali Hindus, Mauritius Hindus, Thailand Hindus, American Hindus, European Hindus, African Hindus, Middle Eastern Hindus etc., All the Hindus must come back to Hindustan. So, they will have majority.
its not new thing..........he is not true to himself..as he himself does not belong to HINDUISM. he is a Jain
Common innocent Hindus are fooled time by time.........even in Al jazeera interview Ram madhav told they do follow Hindu culture not Religion
Very very absurd news. Even if it happened, they don't know what is Hinduism and what is Islam, what is Christianity.
Go to Bombay's Maidan where dozens of educated Hindus are accepting Islam in public, without any pressure or greed.
The govt's seems itself shows Hinduism is diminishing and Muslim population is increasing.
Do whatever you want, the God' s real religion will rein for ever,
All man made fake religions will cease.
I THINK THOGADIYA HAD DREAM LAST NIGHT ABOUT THIS ,
PLEASE DONT JOKE TOO MUCH .....
RSS means liars and always lying. foolish people
Fun of the year... will reward him with \FEKU of THE YEAR\"... Jai ho..."
Muslims Worshiping ONE & ONLY GOD ALLAH, The True CREATOR.
ALLAH is the creator of all that exists, Even U Togadia.
Ye Togadia, stop spreading False news, People are not FOOLS to believe what U say.... U are old. Soon people will throw YOU and Your devils will also Forsake U.
Look for the TRUE GOD and ask his Forgiveness...
ALLAH will forgive all Sins if repented sincerely except SHIRK (associating partners with him)
STOP worshiping the CREATION and LOOK for the CREATOR. IF U R HOnest The CREATOR will guide U to know the reality of YOUR Idol Worship...
Muslims will never bow down to idols & shits & urine & monkeys- SiCK people will do such thing...
RESEARCH it if U are intelligent.
I think thogadia is totaly mental, in last 10 years more then 10 lakh Non muslims converted to Islam.
FAKE NEWS AGAIN & ONLY FOOLISH WILL BELIEVE....
togadia pagal, It's totally a fake news.
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