BJP yet to finalize candidates in 11 constituencies

Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to report candidates for 11 constituencies. 

A senior leader said “We have a local candidate, Appanna Shetty for Badami. In any case, if Siddaramaiah challenges, we will handle a heavyweight to take him on,”

The ticket for Varuna, where Yeddyurappa’s son B.Y. Vijayendra is expected to challenge, has additionally not been declared yet. The party is yet to report its applicant in BTM Layout to go up against Ramalinga Reddy.  

The ticket for Yeshwantpur is being held up as Shobha Karandlaje, MP, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, is a candidate, however she has denied being one, sources said. B.S. Yeddyurappa is purportedly pushing for her to get it. Nonetheless, since she is a MP, the party high command will accept the issue, as giving her a ticket may prove risky with other occupant MPs additionally looking for ticket. 

G. Prasad Reddy, a real estate agent who was defeated by more than 1,800 votes on a BJP ticket against Ramalinga Reddy in 2008, is said to lead the race, among different aspirants. 

The constituencies where it is yet to declare candidates are: Ramanagaram, Kanakapura, Bhadravati, Belur, Hassan, Sakaleshpur and Sidlaghatta. 

The BJP third list has some unexpected names. There was a solid talk about Tulasiram Nauru alias Lahari Velu getting the BJP ticket to challenge from Chamarjpet. He has just begun door to door campaign seeking votes however the party has chosen M Lakshminarayana to challenge from this constituency. 

The BJP has chosen Sapthagiri Gowda to challenge from Gandhi Nagar in Bengaluru where Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president Dinesh Gundu Rao is challenging.

The other fascinating thing is that of Padmanabha Reddy, Leader of Opposition in the BMP Council. Padmanabha Reddy should be BJP’s applicant from Sarvagna Nagar from where Bengaluru Development Minister K J George is challenging. Reddy had challenged against George in the last Assembly elections from same constituency and was defeated. Two days back, Reddy asked the BJP official not choose him for challenging from Sarvagna Nagar since he couldn’t have assets comparable to George. 

The BJP has offered ticket to M.N. Reddy, director of Ayodhya Rama Temple Complex who led the party in getting the 62-ft Hanuman statue raised here, to challenge the Assembly decision from Sarvagna Nagar. He will go up against Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George, who is looking for re-election. 

The contention over the statue had taken a political turn recently when Mr. Reddy charged Mr. George of being hostile to Hindu, asserting that he was endeavoring to keep the statue from entering the temple.