With the high-pitched battles in the South Karnataka’s Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysore constituencies and the coastal constituencies coming to an end on Friday, the battleground will now shift to North and Central Karnataka regions that will go into polling on May 7 as part of the third phase.
After the State witnessed closely fought contests in Mandya, Hassan, and Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituencies where high-profile contestants, including former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Prajwal Revanna, and D.K. Suresh were involved, the turf war for the BJP and the Congress will be in Mumbai Karnataka and Kalyana Karnataka regions where the land owning Veerashaiva-Lingayats dominate the political narratives. The BJP, which draws its strength from the support of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, currently holds all the 14 constituencies.
Importantly, while the JD(S) was a key player in South Karnataka, it has a limited influence in North Karnataka barring a few pockets of Kalyana Karnataka region.
