NEW DELHI: As Karnataka gets all set to go to the polls on May 12, all eyes are on the heavyweights and the constituencies from where they are contesting.
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The 69-year-old Congress stalwart, who is currently chief minister of the state, is contesting from Chamundeshwari and
Badami.
Siddaramaiah
Constituency: BADAMI - City of cashews, raisins, almonds
* The seat will witness a high-profile contest between
Siddaramaiah and
Sreeramulu, BJP MP and state vice-president
Sreeramalu
* It’s a new seat for both Siddaramaiah and Sreeramalu
* Badami --the CM’s second seat -- also has several Independents. Smooth negotiations by the CM’s trusted trio (CM Ibrahim, RB Timmapur and SR Patil) ensured 11 of the 35 who filed nominations dropped out, and backed the CM in the ‘dry fruits’ seat
Constituency: CHAMUNDESHWARI
* Siddaramaiah first won this seat in a December 2006 bypoll
* Returns for a grim fight with friend-turned-rival GT Devegowda, the incumbent. GT joined BJP in 2007 after a falling out with Siddaramaiah, then shifted to JD(S) in 2013 and won here
2
The 58-year-old JD(S) leader is contesting from Channapatna and Ramanagara
Constituency: CHANNAPATNA - City of toys
* Former CM Kumaraswamy (HDK) is taking on incumbent Yoganna, who won on an SP ticket in 2013 when he defeated HDK’s wife Anitha
* Also contesting is transport minister HM Revanna, no pushover, who’s banking on Congress’s welfare schemes to win this Vokkaliga-dominated constituency that has a significant Muslim bloc
* HDK is sitting MLA in his core seat, neighbouring Ramanagara, where he’s won since 2004 and is contesting this time too. His son, actor Nikhil Kumar (29), is campaigning for dad here
Kumaraswamy
3.
The 75-year-old BJP leader is contesting from Shikaripura
Constituency: SHIKARIPURA
* Yeddyurappa’s (BSY) safe seat
* Of 14 assembly polls here, BJP won 8, Congress 5 & KJP one. BSY first contested in 1983, won 6 times on a BJP ticket, once on a KJP ticket. He lost only in 1999
Yeddyurappa
4.
Son of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah
Yathindra
Constituency: VARUNA
* The hot seat suddenly turned into a mild contest after Amit Shah decided Yeddyurappa’s son Vijayendra will not get a ticket here
* Yathindra, the Congress nominee, is a doctor and younger son of Siddaramaiah, who won here in 2008 and 2013
* Vijayendra’s backers plan to use NOTA to dent the BJP nominee’s chances
The hot seats in Karnataka
