As Karnataka delivered an unambiguous verdict on who will lead the next Assembly, it has also made way for many new faces, some of who also emerged as “giant killers,” having managed to defeat big names.
While the Congress confirmed that there are 35 new MLAs from the party this time, there are atleast 10 new MLAs from the BJP.
Man who defeated Sudhakar
Among the names that rose to prominence for bringing down big names was the Congress’s Pradeep Eshwar, who defeated the BJP’s incumbent MLA and former Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar in Chickballapura. The 38-year-old defeated Dr. Sudhakar by a margin of 10,642 votes. According to his profile on the NEET coaching academy he founded, Mr. Eshwar is a biology lecturer and motivational speaker.
In Kodagu district, both constituencies saw major upsets as the Congress breached the BJP’s decades-old fortress. Incidentally, both winners are first time MLAs. A.S. Ponnanna, son of A.K. Subbaiah, first president of BJP in the State who later turned a bitter critic of the party, defeated four-time MLA from Virajpet and former Speaker K.G. Bopaiah. Mr. Ponnanna is a former Additional Advocate General of Karnataka and belongs to the Kodava community.
In Madikeri, Mantar Gowda, a doctor, defeated the BJP’s Appachu Ranjan, who was eyeing a fourth consecutive win. Dr. Gowda is the son of former Minister A. Manju, who won on JD(S) ticket from Arkalgud constituency in Hassan.
Farmers’ son
Techie-turned entrepreneur Darshan Puttannaiah, 45, son of farmers’ leader and politician the late K.S. Puttannaiah, had a successful outing in his second attempt as he won from Melukote as a candidate of the Karnataka Sarvodaya Paksha. He defeated the JD(S)‘s C.S. Puttaraju.
Another first-time MLA with the same name is Darshan Dhruvanarayan, son of the late KPCC working president and former MP R. Dhruvanarayan, who successfully contested from Nanjangud constituency.
A.C. Srinivas, who the Congress had earlier fielded from Devanahalli, contested in Pulikeshinagar this time and won by a margin of 62,210 votes, defeating Akhanda Srinivasamurthy. Mr. Srinivasamurthy had won twice from Pulikeshinagar on JD(S) and Congress ticket earlier and contested from BSP this time.
Women MLAs
There are also many first-time women MLAs. Among them is Manjula S., wife of incumbent Mahadevapura MLA Arvind Limbavali, who won thrice since 2008 but was the only incumbent MLA from the city the BJP denied a ticket to.
Nayana Motamma, who won on Congress ticket from Mudigere, is the daughter of Motamma, former Minister of Women and Child Welfare in Karnataka. The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, also said Ms. Nayana was a graduate from the university’s five-year BA LLB (Hons) programme in 2003 who went on to pursue her LLM from the University of Pennsylvania. “Prior to this election, Ms. Nayana was practising in the High Court of Karnataka and litigated several public interest issues,” a statement from the university said.
Latha Mallikarjun, who won as an Independent in Harapanahalli, is the daughter of M.P. Prakash, former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. She defeated BJP’s G. Karunakara Reddy.
