The upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on Saturday, 12 May 2018, will see a score of political parties battling it out for control of some of the 224 seats that are going to polls this year.
As reported by News18, 36 of these 224 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), while 15 are kept aside for Scheduled Tribes (ST). A total of about 4,96,82,357 voters are expected to vote in the Karnataka polls.
The report further states that 2,655 candidates are reportedly contesting through about 56,696 different polling stations.
While the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Indian National Congress, and Janata Dal United Party (JDU) are the main contenders, several others – both national and regional – are determined to put up a good fight.
All India Mahila Empowerment Party (AIMEP)
The All India Mahila Empowerment Party is contesting 174 seats out of 224. Some of the candidates who are contesting for the seats are:
Names of Candidates with Respective Constituencies:
- Rohini Shrimant Dixit for Nippani
- Annapurna Channappa Asurkar for Chikkodi-Sadalga
- Mahaveer Dasharath Manoji for Athani
- Bhimagouda Shankar Khot for Kagwad
- Shankargouda Ninganngouda Padesur for Arabhavi
- Paravin Jabbar Tambule for Gokak
- Ahmar Abdulsattar Gove for Belgaum Uttar
- Mahantesh B Ranagattimath for Belgaum Dakshin
- Anwar K Jamadar for Belgaum Rural
- Desai Meghana Chandrakant for Khanapur
Samajwadi Party (SP)
The Samajwadi Party, which describes itself as a “democratic, socialist party”, will be contesting 24 seats in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.
Some of the party’s candidates, who are campaigning to win these seats are:
- Satyanarayana Yadav for Gurmitkal
- Puttaraj for Bhalki
- Gonal Jumari B for Bellary City
- KS Saraswathi for Chitradurga
- DN Nagendraiah for Hiriyur
- S Meetya Naik for Holalkere
- BH Siddappa for Jagalur
- BL Channanaik for Harapanahalli
- Lakshminarayana Gowda for Kunigal
- Ramesh Naik for Pavagada
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
This is the first time that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party will be contesting in the Karnataka Assembly Elections. Considering that it’s only making its debut, the party is determined to fight for a total of 28 seats.
Some of the AAP candidates who are contesting for these seats include:
- Balasaheb Ravsaheb Rao for Kagwad
- Nadaf Fakarusab Hasansab for Belgaum Uttar
- Sadanand R Metri for Belgaum Dakshin
- Anand Irappa Hampannavar for Kittur
- Asif Herkal for Devar Hippargi
- Sanjeevkumar Karikal for Gulbarga Uttar
- Deepak Malgar for Basavakalyan
- Mahebub for Raichur
- Sharanappa Sajjihola for Gangawati
- Shivanagouda Patil for Dharwad
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party has announced its list of candidates which will contest on 14 out of the 224 seats.
Some of these NCP candidates are:
- Raybag Nilappa Kashappa Gebadyagol
- Ramachandra Gurusiddappa Kammar for Hukkeri
- Rahim Doddamani for Belgaum Uttar
- Mahesh Gurappa Angadi for Saundatti Yellamma
- Peerpasha Shamsuddin Gachimal for Bijapur City
- Shamashoddin Khajesab Mulla for Sindgi
- Ram for Basavakalyan
- Srihari S for Raichur
- Geeta W/O Krishan Naik for Shirahatti
- Irappa K Emmi for Hubli-Dharwad- West
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
The Bahujan Samaj Party will be contesting a total of 18 seats in the upcoming Karnataka polls.
Here are some of the candidates who are contesting on BSP tickets:
- Kamat Ramesh Ishwar for Nippani
- Sadashivappa Maruti Walke for Chikkodi-Sadalga
- Dr Rajeev Kamble for Raybag
- Mohan Mallikarjuan Jigalur for Bagalkot
- Devaraja V K for Chittapur
- Suryakant Nimbalkar for Gulbarga Dakshin
- M Muniyappa for Bidar
- Chandrakant Subhas Kadrolli for Shirahatti
- Mahaboobsab R Sompur for Gadag
- Shobha Ballari for Hubli-Dharwad-East
Other than these parties, some regional parties will also play an important role in the Karnataka Assembly elections. These include Coorg National Council, Karnataka Congress Party, Karnataka Vikas Party, Kannad Chalavali Vatal Paksha and Karnataka Kranti Ranga.
(With inputs from News18)
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