LS polls: BJP gears up for contest in Karnataka, Nadda plans Belagavi visit

Bengaluru: BJP has quietly started preparations for the Lok Sabha polls in the state. On March 5, the party’s national president JP Nadda will visit Belagavi district, where the ticket issue has aroused great interest, and will host a cluster-level meeting.

As three Lok Sabha constituencies, which are the cause of heavy debate on candidate selection fall under this cluster, Nadda’s visit has gained significance.

High-profile constituencies like Belagavi, Chikkodi, and Uttara Kannada fall under this cluster. In the three constituencies, a lot of confusion has been created on whether to change the candidates or not, and there is a situation where the party seniors could intervene directly. It is said that some consultation will take place during Nadda’s visit.

Along with the cluster meeting, discussions with party workers and office bearers, talks with intellectual leaders, and meetings with beneficiaries have been organized. It is gathered that information related to candidate selection will also be collected.

It is not clear whether sitting MP Mangala Angadi or Jagadish Shettar’s daughter-in-law Shraddha Angadi will get a ticket in the Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency. Similarly, Ramesh Katti has insisted that he wants a ticket for the Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency. Prabhakar Kore has also appealed to the party seniors to give his son a chance. So it is difficult to decide the candidates in both these fields.

In Uttara Kannada, current MP Ananthkumar Hegde has been running around the district for a month and is seeking another chance. As Kittoor-Khanapur of Belagavi district falls under this constituency, there is a possibility of gathering information from Nadda leaders during their visit to Belagavi.

One of Jaishankar, Nirmala, and Rajeev from Bengaluru?

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been assigned to the Bengaluru cluster meeting.

Some developments are also taking place in the three Lok Sabha constituencies of Bengaluru. There is a high possibility that one of Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar will contest from Bengaluru.

Pramod Sawant has been given the responsibility of assessing competition in the constituencies in the state capital.

It is said that Sawant, who is very close to BJP leaders, will visit Bengaluru by next weekend. Besides, Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi will visit the Mangaluru, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru clusters, and Union Minister Murugan will visit the Hubli-Dharwad cluster.

 

Translated from a Kannada article by Raghavendra Bhat