No surprises from LS poll first list by Karnataka Congress; Vokkaligas dominate

The first list of candidates for seven of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies released by the Karnataka Congress on Friday did not surprise either Congress leaders or the Opposition party, as the candidates have been selected on expected lines.

The ruling Congress, which has set itself an ambitious target of winning the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, seems to be facing a herculean task to find winnable candidates in the constituencies.

Natural choice

The choice of candidates such as D K Suresh, the incumbent MP for Bengaluru Rural constituency and Geetha Shivarajkumar, daughter of former chief minister Sarekoppa Bangarappa, wife of Kannada cine star Dr Shivarajkumar and sister of minister for primary and secondary education, Madhu Bangarappa was in a way pre-decided.

According to sources in Congress, the ruling party had approached actor Shivarajkumar and asked him to contest from the Shivamogga seat. However, he declined the offer and instead lobbied for his wife Geetha Shivarajkumar to get a ticket. Geeta had contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on the JD(S) ticket and lost.

D K Suresh, brother of D K Shivakumar was the natural choice of Congress, as incumbent MP, he has made Bengaluru rural a Congress bastion.

An arduous task

In fact Congress has got a head start over other parties by initiating the exercise of short-listing the candidates and decided to go with a planned scientific survey to select candidates.

Congress leaders, who are in the know of the challenges facing the Pradesh Congress Committee Election Committee (PCCEC), told The Federal: "It is an arduous task for Congress, as except for eight to ten seats, the party is finding it difficult to identify winnable candidates in the remaining seats. Not that there is a dearth of leaders. There are plenty of mass leaders in every region of the state, But, the fact is, most of them are reluctant to switch over to central politics."

After the selection of candidates, it appears D K Shivakumar seems to have gained the upper hand. This is because out of seven candidates, four belong to the dominant Vokkaliga community and one each belongs to Ediga, Veerashaiva Lingayat and Dalit communities. Besides D K Suresh, Congress had opted for S P Mudduhanume Gowda, Shreyas Patel, and Venkataramane Gowda from the Vokkaliga community for Tumkur, Hassan and Mandya seats respectively.

Vokkaliga domination

S P Mudduhanume Gowda, who was denied ticket by the Congress after he allied with JD(S) in 2019, had quit Congress and joined BJP. Recently, he quit BJP and rejoined Congress.Shreyas Patel, who had lost the 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls when he contested against former minister H D Revanna in the Holenarsipur constituency by a slender margin of 3,152 votes, is set to fight against Deve Gowda's family in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The real estate baron Venkataramane Gowda, popularly known as ‘Star Chandru’, who belongs to Vokkaliga community, is pitted against BJP candidate in the prestigious Mandya constituency. He is the brother of K H Puttaswamy Gowda, Independent MLA from Gauribidanur constituency.

It seems Congress took a bold stand by announcing the name of Anandaswamy Gaddadevaramath from Haveri, belonging to Veerashaiva-Lingayat community. Anandswamy’s father was an MLA from Shirahatti Assembly segment. Sources in Congress said that the ticket was given to Anandswamy based on the survey report. Raju Algur belongs to the SC community.

Clash of titans in Hassan

Of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies, for which the Congress announced its first list, Hassan Lok Sabha constituency has become colourful, as the grandchildren of stalwarts will replay the 'clash of the titans' battle fought many decades ago in this constituency.

Shreyas M Patel, grandson of former MP late G Puttaswamy Gowda and a close relative of Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar, is set to fight against Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

Prajwal Revanna is the most likely BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate from Hassan. In fact, Prajwal Revanna is the lone MP from JD(S) to win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

This Lok Sabha election marks the silver jubilee of the 'Clash of Titans' war between Puttaswamy Gowda and Deve Gowda. In 1999, Puttaswamy Gowda won the electoral battle and humbled H D Deve Gowda.

Puttaswamy Gowda had contested against Deve Gowda of the then Janata Party for the first time in 1985 as an Independent candidate, after he was denied the Congress ticket. He lost the election. Later, he defeated Deve Gowda in the 1989 Assembly polls and again in the 1999 Lok Sabha election.

Dr Manjunath on BJP ticket?

Sources in JD(S) disclosed that Deve Gowda’s son-in-law and popular cardiologist and former director of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Science and Research, Dr Cholenahalli Nanjappa Manjunath, will take on D K Suresh in Bengaluru Rural.

It is also said that Dr Manjunath will be made BJP candidate instead of JD(S) candidate to avoid accusations of Deve Gowda practising dynastic politics.

Mandya may spring surprise

Even as the fight is between Sumalatha Ambareesh and JD(S) for the prestigious Lok Sabha seat, sources in JD(S) said that in all probability former minister C S Puttaraju of JD(S) will take on ‘Star Chandru’ of Congress in Mandya.

Puttaraju has represented Mandya in the Lok Sabha in 2014 after defeating actress Ramya Divyaspandana. Of late, it is being reported that the Mandya, Kolar and Bengaluru Rural seats would go to the JD(S) in a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP.

It is said that a reluctant H D Kumaraswamy wanted to field his lieutenant Puttaraju in Mandya.

Congress in better position

Congress, which was restricted to only one Lok Sabha seat (Bengaluru Rural) in 2019 polls, is leaving no stone unturned to cross the double-digit mark. So, it is weighing all the options before making a choice.

Compared to 2019, Congress is in a much better position. It is under the leadership of Mallikarjuna Kharge, and the performance of the government in the last 10 months, especially delivering on the five guarantees, has put them on a better wicket.

Congress is currently holding a lot of meetings to finalise its second list, which according to D K Shivakumar will be released after March 11. He said the names of various candidates for the rest of the 21 seats are before the screening committee and the names will be finalised in the meeting to be held on Monday.

A senior Congress leader, however, told The Federal that with the BJP-JD(S) alliance jointly contesting in the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress is struggling to shortlist winnable candidates.