Bengaluru: The Congress announced its first list of 124 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly elections, due in May, with former chief minister Siddaramaiah fielded from the Varuna constituency in Mysuru, replacing his son and sitting MLA Yathindra. No candidates have been announced in the Kolar constituency, which the Opposition leader had announced as his preferred seat, and Yathindra’s name does not figure for any other segment in the first list.
The party has set a target of winning at least 150 seats in the 224-member Assembly. The Election Commission is expected to announce the poll schedule in the next few days. The first list mostly contains the party’s sitting seats and the constituencies for which only one name was recommended by the state unit.
Predictably, state Congress chief D K Shivakumar will contest from his Kanakapura assembly constituency, while the party has fielded former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara from Koratagere (reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates). Hours after the party announced the first candidate list, Siddaramaiah said he wants to contest from two seats - Kolar and Varuna - if the party agrees.
Among senior party leaders who have got the tickets include R V Deshpande, H K Patil, M B Batil, Priyank Kharge (Cong president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son), K R Rameshkumar, Eshwar Khandre, Satish Laxmanrao Jarkiholi, K J George and Dinesh Gundu Rao.
M Krishnappa and his son Priya Krishna have got tickets again from Bengaluru constituencies. Ninety-one-year-old leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa has once again got the ticket from Davanagere South, and his son SS Mallikarjun has got the ticket from Davanagere North.
Veteran leader K H Muniyappa, the seven-time MP and former Union minister, has returned to state politics and has been fielded by the party from Devanahalli, while his daughter and sitting MLA from KGF, Roopakala M has once again got the ticket from the same segment. There are eight Muslim candidates in the first list and six women have made it to the first list.