Bangalore, April 29 (IANS) Key political figures whose electoral fate will be decided May 5 in Karnataka:
BJP:
Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, contesting from Hubli-Dharwad central in north Karnataka. He is the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate.
Deputy Chief Minister and former state BJP chief K. S. Eshwarappa, fighting from Shimoga in north-central Karnataka.
Deputy Chief Minister and Home and Transport minister R. Ashok, from Padmanabhanagar in Bangalore.
Law Minister S. Suresh Kumar, from Rajajinagar in Bangalore, mainly because he is pitted against his former ministerial colleague Shobha Karandlaje, now in former chief minister B.S.Yeddyurappa’s KJP.
Congress:
State Congress chief G. Parameshwara, from Koratagere in Tumkur district in south Karnataka, a chief ministerial aspirant.
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, from Varuna in Mysore district in south Karnataka, also a chief ministerial contender.
Veteran Kannada actor M.H. Ambareesh, from Mandya in Mandya district in south Karnataka. His candidature has reportedly upset the tallest Congress leader from the district and former chief minister and former external affairs minister S. M. Krishna.
Priyank Kharge, from Chitapur (reserved) in Gulbarga in north Karnataka. He is the son of central Labour and Employment minister Mallikharjun Kharge. He lost in the bypoll from the constituency held in 2009 after the senior Kharge vacated it to enter the Lok Sabha.
Janata Dal-Secular:
State JD0S chief and former chief minister H. D. Kumaraswamy, from Ramanangaram in south Karnataka. He represents the constituency in the Lok Sabha. He has been a Kannada film producer and distributor.
His wife Anita Kumaraswamy, from the neighbouring Chennapatna seat. She runs a Kannada TV channel.
His brother H.D. Revanna, from Holenarsipur in Hassan district in south Karnataka.
Both are sons of JD-S president and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda.
KJP:
Its chief, B.S. Yeddyurappa, from Shikaripura in Shimoga district.
His staunch follower Shobha Karandlaje, from Rajajinagar in Bangalore.
C.M. Udasi, a former BJP minister, from Haveri in north Karnataka.
BSR Congress, floated by B. Sriramulu:
Former BJP minister and loyalist of jailed mining baron and former BJP minister G. Janaradhana Reddy, B. Sriramulu, from Bellary Rural constituency.
Kannada actress Pooja Gandhi, born in Punjab, from Raichur in north Karnataka.
Electoral statistics:
Total number of candidates in the fray: 2,948, of which 2,778 men and 170 women.
The Congress is contesting all the 224 seats, the BJP 223, the JD-S 222, the KJP 224, the BSP 175, the NCP 24 and the Communist Party of India-Marxist 17.
The remaining 1,839 are candidates of unrecognized parties and independents.
The vote count is on May 8.
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