Lok Sabha elections: BJP announces 4 candidates each from Karnataka and Kerala, 2 from Telangana

The list contained the names of six candidates from Andhra Pradesh, four from Kerala and Karnataka, and two from Telangana.

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In Karnataka

The BJP announced candidates for four more Lok Sabha seats for Karnataka, replacing three incumbent MPs and giving a ticket to former chief minister Jagadish Shettar from the Belagavi segment.

As anticipated, the party dropped Uttara Kannada incumbent MP Anantkumar Hegde, who is known for his communally inflammatory and derogatory remarks.

Former minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri — who served as an MLA for six terms, three from the erstwhile Ankola seat and three from Sirsi — has replaced him.

Kageri in 2023 faced his first defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls since 1994. He lost to the Congress’ Bhimanna Naik.

It may also be noted that sitting Hegde faced anti-incumbency from his own party workers as he reportedly stayed away from the constituency for over two years, ostensibly due to health issues.

Meanwhile, ahead of the elections, incumbent Chikkaballapur MP BN Bachegowda announced his retirement from electoral politics.

The BJP thus fielded former minister Dr K Sudhakar, a Vokkaliga leader who not only demanded the ticket after Bachegowda’s retirement but also campaigned for it weeks before the announcement of polling dates.

In the Raichur (ST) seat, the party gave a ticket to incumbent MP Raja Amareshwara Naik, a two-time MLA and former minister who has represented this seat since 2019.

However, the party is yet to announce a candidate for the Chitradurga (SC) seat, which is currently represented by the incumbent Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment A Narayanaswamy.

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Jagadish Shettar gets Belagavi seat

The BJP high command has given a ticket to senior Lingayat leader and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar from the Belagavi seat in Karnataka despite opposition from the party ranks.

Shettar thus replaced incumbent MP Mangala Angadi, who is the wife of late former Union minister Suresh Angadi and also a relative of Shettar.

Months before the Lok Sabha elections, Shettar sprung a surprise by ending his brief stay in the Congress and returning to the BJP.

He had pledged allegiance to the grand old party in 2023 after the BJP high command denied him a ticket from the Hubballi-Dharwad Central Assembly seat.

He faced defeat in last year’s Karnataka Assembly polls from the same seat on a Congress ticket.

The party then sent Shettar to the Karnataka Legislative Council. However, he quit the party and returned to the BJP on 25 January.

After his return, Shettar expressed willingness to contest from the Haveri-Gadag, Dharwad, or Belagavi Lok Sabha seats.

The party awarded the Haveri and Dharwad tickets to former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and incumbent Union minister Pralhad Joshi, respectively.

Thereafter, Shettar continued to lobby for the Belagavi ticket, considering the dominance of the Lingayat community there. But, the local leaders and party workers opposed his candidacy.

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In Kerala

The BJP’s delay in revealing its candidates for seats in Kerala, including the high-profile Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, has been raising quite a few eyebrows.

Not any more, as the party announced the names of its contestants from four Lok Sabha seats in Kerala on Sunday.

The BJP nominated its state president K Surendran to contest from Wayanad, in a bold decision seemingly aimed at challenging the formidable presence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

According to party insiders, the move signalled the party’s intent to provide tough competition in Wayanad, a constituency that gained national attention during the previous elections due to Gandhi’s candidature.

Surendran will contest against Rahul and the LDF’s Anie Raja in Wayanad.

The BJP also announced its fifth woman candidate from Kerala for the polls: Dr TN Sarasu for the Alathur constituency, which is reserved for a Scheduled Caste (SC) candidate.

Sarasu is the former principal of Government Victoria College Palakkad. A group of SFI students allegedly prepared a symbolic grave in 2016 as a “retirement gift” to her.

Dr KS Radhakrishnan has been fielded from the Ernakulam constituency. He was the vice-chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit from 2004 to 2008 and chairman of the Kerala Public Service Commission in 2011.

Actor G Krishna Kumar has been given a ticket from the Kollam constituency. Before he appeared in Malayalam and Tamil TV series and films, he was a news presenter on Doordarshan and All India Radio.

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In Telangana

The latest list of BJP Lok Sabha candidates featured a recent political turncoat and an industrialist from the Velama community.

The party fielded Aroori Ramesh from the Warangal (SC) constituency. Ramesh was an MLA from Wardhannapet who recently joined the BJP after exiting the BRS.

The party has also named Tandra Vinod Rao as a contestant from the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency.

He edged out the likes of district presidents like Galla Satyanarayana and KV Ranga Kiran — among others — for the ticket.

Of the two, Satyanarayana belongs to the Kamma community and Ranga Kiran to the Kapu community. They are both leaders of their caste.

With this, the BJP has announced the candidates for 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana.

The initial list had nine candidates, while the second list had six candidates.

The first list covered senior leaders like Union minister G Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Arvind Dharmapuri, and Kondaweshwar Reddy.

It also featured a new face in the form of Madhavi Latha to take on AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi from Hyderabad.

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