Karnataka Assembly elections: Congress releases 1st list of 124 candidates
The Congress revealed its first list of 124 candidates on Saturday for the upcoming Assembly polls in Karnataka, with former state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah being fielded from his home constituency of Varuna. Meanwhile, the official list also confirmed that Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee head DK Shivakumar is set to contest the elections from the Kanakapura Assembly constituency.
Why does this story matter?
The Karnataka Assembly polls are set to take place by May this year before the current Assembly term ends. The grand old party is attempting to wrest control from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the southern state. Notably, this development comes a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha disqualification after being convicted in a 2019 defamation case.
Details on key Congress candidates for Karnataka polls
Other notable names on the list included Congress leaders Lakshmi Hebbalkar from Belgaum Rural, Rizwan Arshad from Shivajinagar, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan from Chamrajpet, Dinesh Gundu Rao from Gandhinagar, and Priyank Kharge from Chitapur. The party has also fielded Satish Jarkiholi from Yemkanmardi, Tanveer Sait from Narasimharaja, former minister KH Muniappa from Devanahalli, and former Deputy CM G Parameshwara from Koratagere, among others.
Congress's CEC approved 1st list of candidates on March 17
Congress's Central Election Committee (CEC), chaired by party supremo Mallikarjun Kharge, approved the first list of candidates after the March 17 meeting in Delhi in the presence of other key leaders. The grand old party is also the second party to release its candidates' list for the Karnataka elections after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its first list of 80 candidates on Monday.
Take a look at full list
AAP's 1st list of candidates for Karnataka polls
The first list of candidates of the AAP, which is set to contest in all 224 Karnataka Assembly seats, included Supreme Court (SC) lawyer Brijesh Kalappa from Chickpet and former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officer K Mathai from Shanti Nagar. It also included Mohan Dasari from CV Raman Nagar, Shanthala Damle from Mahalakshmi Layout, Ajay Gowda from Padmanabhanagar, and BT Naganna from Rajajinagar.
AAP state chief gives insight on candidates
Addressing a press conference, AAP Karnataka chief Prithvi Reddy stated, "These candidates (in the list) represent various sections of the society. The average age of the list of our candidates is only 46 years. More than 50% of our candidates are below the age of 45." While the AAP candidates were picked after a survey, Reddy also revealed that 69 candidates were fresh faces.
PM Modi's Bengaluru visit ahead of Karnataka polls
While the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to fix the dates for the Karnataka Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Bengaluru to inaugurate the highly-awaited Whitefield-KR Puram Metro Phase II project and other programs on Saturday. Amid this, the Bengaluru Traffic Police released a fresh advisory for commuters to ensure the prime minister's safety.
