The 3rd list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections is here.
We wish candidates the very best! pic.twitter.com/DoB0cXaRwy— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) April 20, 2018
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
There appeared to be confusion over who the party would pick to contest from Udupi as it did not name a contestant from Udupi in the first two lists of candidates released.
But the party has finally revealed that former MLA Raghupathi Bhat will be returning to politics to set up a straight fight against current MLA and Minister of Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports Pramod Madhwaraj of the Congress.
According to BJP’s Udupi District President Mattaru Ratnakar Heggade, Raghupati was always going to be the leader to challenge Madhwaraj in Udupi. In 2008, Raghupati Bhat won over Pramod Madhwaraj by a margin of 2,479 votes but since then, the political fortunes of the two leaders have gone in opposite directions.
Madhwaraj succeeded Raghupati as the MLA of Udupi after the BJP leader did not contest the 2013 Assembly elections. A video clip of Raghupati with an unidentified woman was leaked to TV channels in March 2013, just before elections in the state. This lead to Raghupati withdrawing his candidature, citing ‘personal reasons.’ Senior BJP leader B Sudhakara Shetty contested in his place and was defeated by a whopping margin of 39,524 votes by Pramod Madhwaraj.
Meanwhile, another former MLA Lalaji Mendon will contest from Kaup constituency. Like Raghupati, Lalaji had won in the constituency in 2004 and was then re-elected in 2008 before he was defeated by Vinay Kumar Sorake of the Congress by a margin of 1,855 votes in 2013.
The Gandhi Nagar seat in the capital city of Bengaluru has been given to Saptagiri Gowda who is BJP State Youth wing in Karnataka. While, the Mandya seat which was in news for actor Ambareesh’s tussle with Congress over his candidature, has been handed over to Basavegowda.
The Hunsur seat which was once represented by former chief minister D. Devaraj Urs for six terms is now under the command of Ramesh Kumar.The party also announced a replacement for the Kolar Gold Field (SC) seat which will now be represented by S. Ashwini.
BJP on Monday had released its second list of 82 candidates for the 224-member Karnataka Assembly polls which included names like G. Somashekar Reddy who is the younger brother of Bellary mining baron G. Janardhan Reddy.
Other prominent candidates in the second list were former BJP ministers Murgesh Nirani, Hartalu Halappa, MP Renukacharya, Krishnaiah Shetty, and K. Subramanya Naidu and Kumar Bangarappa, who switched over from the ruling Congress and is the son of former chief minister S. Bangarappa.he party had released its first list of 72 candidates, including three women on 8 April.
Leave a Reply