JD(S) in Karnataka releases names of its three candidates for Lok Sabha polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has allotted Mandya, Kolar and Hassan seats to its alliance partner JDS, finally confirming the names of these three seats.

After various speculations on Karnataka’s high-profile Mandya Lok Sabha seat, the Janata Dal (Secular) confirmed that its second-in-chief and former CM HD Kumaraswamy will contest from this hot seat of old Mysuru region. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has allotted Mandya, Kolar and Hassan seats to its alliance partner JDS, finally confirming the names of these three seats.

HD Kumaraswamy (PTI)

Earlier, HD Kumaraswamy said that his health reasons might not allow him to contest in the Lok Sabha polls. The party also considered fielding Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of HD Kumaraswamy from Mandya. However, after various calculations, the party has announced the former Chief Minister’s name from Mandya. Currently, Sumalatha Ambareesh, who won as an independent candidate from Mandya on 2019 is serving as a sitting MP.

Mandya. The heartland of Vokkaligas was the home turf of the HD Devegowda family, but in the recent assembly elections, the JD(S) did not perform up to the mark in the old Mysuru region. The vote bank has evidently tilted towards the Congress party with DK Shivakumar as its primary Vokkaliga face. The Congress has now fielded Venkataramana Gowda, who is popularly known as Star Chandru from Mandya, against the BJP-JDS. Star Chandru is a close associate of DK Shivakumar and it is expected to be an exciting fight in South Karnataka.

Meanwhile, JDS also named M Mallesh Babu as its candidate from Kolar constituency. It is widely speculated that Congress leader Muniyappa’s son-in-law Chikka Peddanna will be in the contest from the grand-old-party and no name has been confirmed yet. As expected, Hassan seat is allotted to HD Devegowda’s grandson Prajwal Ravanna.

The Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7 for 28 constituencies.