Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: High-stakes contests in these seats are a must watch

It is time to find out which political party will grab power in Karnataka. Multiple exit polls have predicted a hung Assembly, meaning no party will touch the magical number of 113 required in the 224-member House to stake a claim to form the government. If this happens, Janata Dal (Secular) could play the role of the kingmaker.

As votes are counted on Saturday (13 May), which are the key seats witnessing high-stake battles that you must keep an eye on? Let’s see.

Varuna

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah fought against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state minister V Somanna from the Varuna constituency.

The Varuna seat was won by the Congress veteran’s son Yatindra Siddaramaiah in the 2018 Assembly elections, who secured 96,435 votes. He defeated BJP’s T Basavaraju by a margin of 58,616 votes, noted Deccan Herald.

ಮತದಾನ ಗಣತಂತ್ರದ ಹಬ್ಬ,
ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸುವ ಮೂಲಕ ಪ್ರಜಾಪ್ರಭುತ್ವದ ಬುನಾದಿಯನ್ನು ಸದೃಢಗೊಳಿಸೋಣ.

ರಾಜ್ಯ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಭ್ರಷ್ಟಾಚಾರ, ದುರಾಡಳಿತ, ಕೋಮುವಾದ, ಬೆಲೆ ಏರಿಕೆಗಳ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ವರುಣಾ ವಿಧಾನಸಭಾ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ನನ್ನ ಹುಟ್ಟೂರು ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮನಹುಂಡಿಯ ಮತಗಟ್ಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದೆ.

ನೀವೂ ತಪ್ಪದೆ ಮತದಾನ ಮಾಡಿ, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕವನ್ನು… pic.twitter.com/Wg0LpsTFfc

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 10, 2023

As per The Quint, the Congress has held the Varuna seat since 2008.

Somanna was also fielded by the BJP from a second constituency – Chamarajanagar.

Shiggaon

Basavaraj Bommai, the incumbent Karnataka chief minister, is seeking reelection from the Shiggaon constituency in Haveri district for a fourth consecutive term. The BJP leader had won the seat in 2018 with a margin of 9,265 votes against Congress’ Sayed Azeempeer Khadri.

This year, the Grand Old Party pitted Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan against the BJP chief minister.

Meanwhile, rejecting exit polls, Bommai has expressed confidence that his party will return to power in the state with an outright majority.

Kanakapura

The Congress’ second chief ministerial candidate and state unit chief DK Shivakumar was given a ticket from the Kanakapura Assembly constituency. The seven-time MLA faced Karnataka minister of revenue R Ashoka and JD(S)’ Nagaraj in the 10 May elections.

Ashok, the Vokkaliga face of the BJP, was fielded by the party from another seat – Padmanabhanagar – that he has won six times.

Shivakumar, one of the richest politicians in the state, has not lost a single election since 1989, according to The Quint. He has won the Kanakpura seat thrice since 2008.

In the 2018 polls, Shivakumar registered a win from the Kanakapura seat by defeating Narayana Gowda of the JD (S) with a margin of 79,909 votes.

ALSO READ: Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Why the southern state is a must-win for Congress

Channapatna

In the Channapatna seat, JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was challenged by actor-turned-politician CP Yogeshwara from BJP and Congress’ Gangadhar S.

Yogeshwara previously fought against Kumaraswamy in the 2018 Assembly elections from the same seat, however, he lost by 21,530 votes, noted Times of India (TOI).

As per Financial Express, Channapatna, which was once a Congress stronghold, has become the bastion of the JD(S), with the people there sharing a “special bond” with the Deve Gowda – Kumaraswamy’s father – family.

Hubballi-Dharwad Central

It was a battle between Jagadish Shettar, a former BJP leader who quit the party weeks before the Karnataka Assembly election, and the saffron party’s candidate Mahesh Tenginakai.

Shettar, seen as the force behind BJP’s expansion in Uttara Kannada, exited from the party on 16 April after being denied a ticket and joined Congress.

His departure was the second big blow to the saffron party which had already lost another tall Lingayat leader, Laxman Savadi.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the then BJP candidate Shettar secured 75,794 votes, drubbing Congress’ Dr Mahesh Nalwad by a margin of 21,306 votes from the Hubballi-Dharwad Central seat.

Shikaripura

All eyes will be on the Shikaripura constituency Assembly results as the seat marked BJP strongman BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra’s foray into electoral politics.

As per Economic Times, Yediyurappa has been winning the Shikaripura constituency since the 1980s, except once in 1999.

ನಮ್ಮ ಶಿಕಾರಿಪುರದಲ್ಲಿಂದು ಮಾನ್ಯ ನಿಕಟಪೂರ್ವ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳಾದ ಶ್ರೀ @BSYBJP ಅವರು, ಸಂಸದರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ @BYRBJP ಅವರು ಹಾಗೂ ನಮ್ಮ ಕುಟುಂಬ ಸಮೇತ ಮತಗಟ್ಟೆಗೆ ತೆರಳಿ ಮತಚಲಾಯಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ನಾಡಿನ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಗಾಗಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಹಕ್ಕು ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ತಮ್ಮ ಹಕ್ಕು ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿ, ಪ್ರಜಾಪ್ರಭುತ್ವ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಗೆ ಭದ್ರ ಬುನಾದಿ ಹಾಕೋಣ. pic.twitter.com/B2MkgoIZZA

— Vijayendra Yeddyurappa (@BYVijayendra) May 10, 2023

Congress fielded Goni Malatesh against Vijayendra, who is the vice president of the BJP’s Karnataka unit.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, Yediyurappa, who secured 86,983 votes, defeated Malatesh who polled 51,586 votes, according to PTI.

Chikmagalur

Four-time BJP MLA CT Ravi is vying to get reelected from the Chikmagalur Assembly constituency.

BJP national general secretary Ravi faced Congress’ HD Thammaiah, who was once his aide before he quit the saffron party to join the Grand Old Party in February this year.

While Thammaiah is a Lingayat leader, Ravi comes from the Vokkaliga community.

Chikmagalur was previously a Congress bastion before Ravi started getting elected from the seat in 2004.

Ramanagara

Ramanagara seat is considered a JD(S) bastion. Deve Gowda’s grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy was challenged by Congress veteran HA Iqbal Hussain and BJP’s Gowtham Gowda from the constituency.

Nikhil, son of HD Kumaraswamy, replaced his mother and incumbent MLA Anitha Kumaraswamy to contest from the Ramanagara Assembly constituency. She had won the seat in the 2018 byelection.

Nikhil had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mandya, losing to actor Sumalatha Ambareesh.

Athani

Laxman Savadi, who left the BJP ahead of the elections, contested from the Athani Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket.

He was pitted against BJP’s Mahesh Kumathalli, AAP leader Sampath Kumar Shetti and Shashikant Padasalagi of the JD(S).

In the 2018 elections, Kumathalli, who was then a Congress candidate, bagged the seat defeating the then BJP nominee Savadi by a margin of 2,331 votes.

After Kumathalli left Congress and joined BJP, a bypoll was held in 2019, which he won and retained the seat.

As the counting of votes takes place, it will soon be clear on Saturday which of these candidates had the upper hand over their rivals.

With inputs from agencies

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