All set for Polls in 14 LS seats in Karnataka

Bengaluru: After a month-long rancorous campaign, 14 of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state it will go to the polls in the first phase on Thursday with the main battle between the ruling Congress-JD(S) combine and the BJP.

The constituencies, which are going to the polls in the first phase, are mostly in the southern part of the state covering almost the entire old Mysuru region and few coastal districts.

It is a high stakes battle for the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance as any adverse results from the region, considered as their stronghold, is likely to have its impact on the longevity of the coalition government in the state.

The BJP is determined to improve its tally compared to last time riding on the Modi wave.

Of the 14 constituencies going to the polls, the BJP and Congress had won six each in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and JD(S) in two.

While the BJP is contesting in 13 constituencies and supporting independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya, Congress and JD(S) have fielded their candidates in 10 and four constituencies respectively.

Polling will take place in 30,197 booths in the first phase of which 6,318 have been designated by police and election authorities as critical and 23,879 normal.

Police said 90,997 police personnel would be deployed for poll duty, including home guards, civil defence, forest guards and jail warders.

A total of 2,67,53,840 voters are expected to make their choice from among 241 candidates in the fray during the first phase.

Among the 241 candidates, 226 are men and 15 women.

While the highest number of 31 candidates are from Bangalore North, the least is in Hassan with six candidates.

Out of total 2,67,53,840 voters in the 14 constituencies, 1,35,45,545 are men, 1,32,05,515 women and 2,780 third gender.

Prominent contestants in the first phase include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (Tumkur), his grandsons Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy from Hassan and Mandya respectively, as also Union Minister Sadananda Gowda (Bangalore North) and senior Congress leaders Verappa Moily (Chikkaballapura) and K H Muniyappa (Kolar).

Other candidates include actress and independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh (Mandya) and Tejasvi Surya (Bangalore South), who was given BJP ticket at the final moment, denying it to Union Minister Ananth Kumar’s widow Tejaswini.

A key constituency is Mandya where Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil is making his electoral debut against another debutant Sumalatha, widow of actor-turned-politician M H Ambareesh.

Mandya saw a bitterly fought campaign with Kumaraswamy devoting most of his time to the constituency to ensure his son’s victory against Sumalatha.