Karnataka polls: Siddaramaiah to contest from son's constituency

The Congress party announced its first list of 124 candidates for the elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, on Saturday. Former chief minister and Badami MLA Siddaramaiah who was scouting for a "safe" seat will be contesting from Varuna in Mysuru, which is currently being represented by his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah. The Kuruba leader who had recently declared that he would contest from Kolar, is hoping to contest from both seats as the party has still not announced a candidate for Kolar. 

Interestingly, the party accused of dynastic politics and had toyed with the idea “one family one ticket” has ended up giving tickets to father-son and father-daughter duo in at least four cases in the first list. While former Union minister and seven-time MP from Kolar K.H. Muniyappa (75) who lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls will be making a bid to enter the state Assembly from Devanahalli (SC reserved) constituency in the May polls, his daughter and sitting MLA Roopkala Shashidhar will be seeking reelection from Kolar Gold Fields. The local leaders in Devanahalli resigned en masse to protest against the party choosing an 'outsider' (Muniyappa).  

Similarly, Davangere South MLA and president of All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha Shamanur Shivashankarrappa (91) and his son S.S. Mallikarjun (Davangere North) are in the fray. In Bengaluru city, sitting MLAs - former minister Ramalinga Reddy (BTM Layout) and his daughter Sowmya Reddy (Jayanagar) and sitting MLA M. Krishnappa (Vijay Nagar) and his son Priya Krishna, who lost Govindraj Nagar to BJP minister V Somanna in 2018, will be contesting the upcoming polls. 

Congress leader Priyaka Gandhi campaigning for better women representation and participation seems to have had little effect on the party as it has fielded only six women candidates out of the 124 declared in the first list. Of these, five are sitting MLAs—Laxmi Hebbalkar (Belagavi rural), Roopkala Shashidhar, Sowmya Reddy, Kaneez Fatima (Gulbarga North) and Anjali Nimbalkar (Khanapur). H Kusuma is the defeated candidate from RR Nagar and wife of deceased IAS officer D.K. Ravi. 

The party is fielding eight Muslim candidates and one Christian candidate, which includes sitting MLAs Rahim Khan (Bidar), Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagar), N.A. Haris (Shantinagar), B.Z. Zameer Ahmed (Chamrajpet), U.T. Khader (Mangalore), Tanver Sait (Narasimharaja) and Kaneez Fatima (Gulbarga north). 

The party is pitching Iqbal Hussain against Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the JD(S) nominee and son of former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, in Ramanagara, which is currently held by Nikhil’s mother Anitha Kumaraswamy. 

Speculations are rife that some of the constituencies have been left out of the first list in anticipation of influential leaders from the BJP and the JD(S) jumping ship to the Congress, which will help wrest more seats. 

Plans are afoot to field former minister Vinay Kulkarni to challenge Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. However Kulkarni is said to be keen on contesting from Dharwad Rural. The Congress has fielded a Brahmin candidate Anup Iyengar in the Brahmin-dominated Malleswaram constituency, which is currently represented by IT minister and Vokkaliga leader C.N. Ashwath Narayan. 

The polls will see some fresh and young faces, too, as Congress has picked Mithun Rai (Moodabidri), RakshitShivaram (Belthangady) and A.S. Ponnanna (Virajpet), along with Sharat Bachegowda (Hoskote).