Cong fields Geetha Shivarajkumar from Shimoga, renominates D K Suresh from Bangalore Rural
Bengaluru, Mar 8: D K Suresh (Bangalore Rural) and Kannada actor Shivarajkumar's wife Geetha Shivarajkumar (Shimoga) figure in the first list of seven candidates in Karnataka announced on Friday by the Congress for the coming Lok Sabha elections.
A three-time MP, Suresh is the brother of Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar and is the sitting member from Bangalore Rural. He was the only Congress candidate to win in the 2019 general elections in the State.
The other five candidates are: H R Algur (Bijapur), Anandswamy Gaddadevarmath (Haveri), S P Muddahanumegowda (Tumkur), Venkataramane Gowda (Mandya) and Shreyas M Patel (Hassan).
The party naming Geetha Shivarajkumar for the Shivamogga seat seems to have set the stage for an interesting battle in the home district of BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa.
Geetha, daughter of former Chief Minister late S Bangarappa, contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Shivamogga (Shimoga) on a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket and lost to Yediyurappa.
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The seat is currently held by Yediyurappa's son, B Y Raghavedra.
Geetha, sister of Karnataka Minister for School Education Madhu Bangarappa and daughter-in- law of Kannada thespian late Rajkumar, joined the Congress in April last year ahead of Assembly elections in Karnataka.
Venkataramane Gowda, also known as Star Chandru, is a contractor by profession. The Mandya seat is represented by Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent backed by the BJP.
The Congress had denied renomination to Muddahanumegowda in the 2019 elections to make way for Congress-JD(S) alliance candidate H D Deve Gowda who, however, lost the polls. Muddahanumegowda officially joined the BJP in 2022 but kept a low profile. He returned to the Congress fold only last month.
"Congress has named candidates in segments where there was no confusion over the nominee," a party leader said.
The BJP-JD(S) combine is yet to come out with its list of candidates.
The BJP had swept the 2019 general elections, bagging 25 of the total 28 seats in the state, while an independent (Sumalatha Ambareesh) backed by the party had also emerged victorious.
The Congress and the JD(S), which were running a coalition government back then and fought the election together, had come a cropper winning just one seat each.
But the political scene has changed significantly since then; the Congress scored a thumping victory in the Assembly elections in May last year and now appears battle-ready, determined to put up a strong show in the Lok Sabha polls.
It is also a role reversal of sorts for JD(S) which joined the BJP-led NDA in September last year and wants to prove that it's still a force to reckon with, particularly in South Karnataka.
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Voting begins for 38 seats in 2nd phase of Jharkhand assembly polls
Ranchi (PTI): Polling for 38 assembly seats in the second and final phase of Jharkhand elections commenced on Wednesday, amid tight security arrangements, officials said.
Voting began at 7 AM in 14,218 booths across 12 districts and will continue till 5 PM.
However, polling in 31 booths will end at 4 PM though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to exercise their franchise, the officials said.
A total of 1.23 crore voters, including 60.79 lakh women and 147 third-gender electors, are eligible to exercise their franchise on Wednesday.
Altogether 528 candidates, including Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri of the BJP, are trying their luck in the second phase of the elections.
Taking to X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Today is the second and last phase of the great festival of democracy in Jharkhand. I urge all voters to participate in it enthusiastically and create a new record of voting. On this occasion, I especially congratulate all my young friends who are going to vote for the first time. Your every vote is the strength of the state."
Eighteen of the 38 constituencies are in the Santhal Pargana region comprising six districts - Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur.
The remaining 18 seats are in the North Chotanagpur division and two in South Chotanagpur.
Of the total 14,218 polling stations, the responsibility of the entire voting process at 239 is in the hands of women and 22 are manned by persons with disabilities (PwDs), Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said.
The ruling JMM-led INDIA bloc is seeking to retain power riding on its welfare schemes, while the BJP-headed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is trying to wrest it.
The first phase of elections was held on November 13, and the counting of votes will take place on November 23.
