Last Update: April 12, 2023, 09:41 AM IST
Party stalwart BS Yeddyurappa has already pulled out of the contest announcing his retirement. His son BY Vijayendra has been given ticket from his seat Shikaripura. (Twitter file photo)
The BJP cadre and leaders were expecting a list full of surprises and new names. But the list has become a huge hype with some cosmetic changes. Even though the party claims to field 52 new faces, most are from the old Congress and JDS bastions of Mysuru, where the BJP is the third player
After days of suspense and a series of meetings, the BJP high command released the first list of 189 candidates on Tuesday night in consultation with the RSS. Though there are many new names in the list, the BJP has not made any major changes in its strongholds and has repeated most sitting MLAs in North, Central, Bengaluru city and parts of Coastal Karnataka.
In the first list, it has denied ticket to only nine sitting MLAs. Party veterans KS Eshwarappa and Jagadish Shettar have been asked to quit electoral politics. Party stalwart BS Yeddyurappa has already pulled out of the contest announcing his retirement. His son BY Vijayendra has been given ticket from his seat Shikaripura.
Two major avenues to take on are KPCC President DK Shivakumar in Kanakapura and Housing Minister V Somanna in Varuna to face Siddaramaiah. The BJP played it safe by allowing Somanna to contest from Chamarajanagar and Ashok from Padmanabhanagar, his constituency in Bengaluru. By doing so, the BJP has indirectly accepted that it does not have any big name to take on the two big Congress leaders in Karnataka.
Party cadre and leaders were expecting a list full of surprises and new names. But the list has become one big hype with a few cosmetic changes here and there. Even though the party claims to field 52 new faces, most are from the Congress and JDS bastions of the old Mysore region, where the BJP is the third player.
In Bengaluru city with 28 seats in the BBMP limits and four in the outskirts, the BJP has played it safe by not making major changes. Almost all the sitting MLAs have been repeated. The name of Arvind Limbavali from Mahadevapura reserved seat is not in the first list. Former Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao, who recently joined the party from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has got the ticket from Chamarajpet. Party veteran S Suresh Kumar has managed to get re-nominated from Rajajinagar.
There is no major face against JDS candidates in Gowda Garh in the list. Even in the party bastions of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, the BJP has fielded only five sitting MLAs in Kundapura, Udupi, Kapu, Puttur and Sulia.
Yeddyurappa has managed to secure tickets for many of his loyalist MLAs. In a highly caste-ridden state, the BJP has decided to take into account castes and sub-castes before deciding on candidates. Both these factors have been given great importance. Parties, ideologies and narratives have been left behind.
Describing it as a powerful list, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje has expressed confidence that the BJP will return to power. But the main opposition party Congress has described it as a list of the status quo and termed it as a waste of nothing.
The BJP has not yet announced candidates for the remaining 35 seats and some of them are difficult or risky seats or both. The Congress has already announced candidates for 166 seats and its final list for the remaining 58 seats is expected anytime.
JDS has so far announced candidates for 93 seats. The enrollment process will begin on April 13 and end on April 20.
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