1. It’s official: H.D. Kumaraswamy to contest from Mandya seat in Lok Sabha elections
Putting an end to weeks of speculation, the Janata Dal (Secular) named its state President and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy as the candidate for the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency where a high voltage poll battle is expected. It also cleared Prajwal Revanna for Hassan seat.
The party that had hard bargained with the BJP for the Kolar Lok Sabha reserved constituency is yet to name the candidate. Though the defeated candidate in Bangarpet constituency in the recently held Assembly elections Mallesh Babu was the front runner, party sources indicated that discussions are still going on. In the seat-sharing arrangement, JD(S) will contest in three seats and BJP will contest in 25 seats.
2. BJP nominates Raju Gowda for Assembly by-poll from Surpur in Karnataka
The BJP has nominated former minister Raju Gowda, also known as Narasimha Naik, as its candidate for the bypoll to the Legislative Assembly from Surpur (Shorapur) constituency in Yadgir district of Karnataka. The by-poll will be held on May 7, along with the Lok Sabha elections.
The seat became vacant following the death of incumbent MLA and Congress leader Raja Venkatappa Naik in February due to illness. The Congress has nominated Raja Venugopal Naik, son of Raja Venkatappa Naik, for the by-election from this seat.
3. Congress government in Karnataka will fall after Lok Sabha elections, says BJP leader
BJP’s national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs, Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, believes that the Congress government in the State will collapse on its own soon after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “We don’t want to dethrone them. Where is the need to hit someone who is already dying? Why should we take the blame?”
Mr. Agarwal said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar have a lot of differences, and the Congress government will collapse because of internal contradictions. When asked about the differences in the BJP over the selection of candidates in Karnataka, Mr. Agarwal said differences are common when the chances of winning the contest with the BJP symbol and Modi’s face are quite high.
