JDS names candidates for Bijapur, U-K

Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) Tuesday finally announced the candidates for Bijapur and Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituencies.

Sunitha Devanand Chavan has been named for Bijapur and Anand Asnotikar for Uttara Kannada, Gowda said in a release.

Both constituencies will go to polls in the second phase on April 23.

Sunita is the wife of Devanand Chavan, party MLA from Nagthan and Anand Asnotikar is a former BJP Minister who had lost as JD(S) candidate from Karwar in 2018 assembly polls.

Both Sunita and Asnotikar, who will contest as joint candidates of the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance, are pitted against Union Ministers Ramesh Jigajinagi in Bijapur and Ananth Kumar Hegde in Uttara Kannada respectively.

The Congress and JD(S) as per the seat-sharing agreement had decided to contest for 20 and 8 Lok Sabha seats respectively out of total 28 seats in the state.

However, the JD(S) on Monday gave Bangalore North seat to its partner Congress on not finding a suitable candidate from the party against Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, who is the BJP candidate.

Karnataka Minister for Rural Development Krishna Byre Gowda from the Congress is named as coalition candidate from Bangalore North.

Party candidates from other seats are Gowda’s grandsons Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy from party bastions Hassan and Mandya constituencies respectively.

While Gowda himself is contesting from Tumkur, former Chief Minister S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa is in the fray from Shimoga seat against another former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra of the BJP.

Pramod Madhwaraj, a former Congress Minister, is contesting from Udupi-Chikmagalur on JD(S) ticket according to the arrangement between the parties.