Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Beta, beti, bhai and biwi... the 'nepo' netas in the fray

Parivarvaad and Indian politics go hand in hand. The upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections are no exception. The Congress, often targeted for dynastic politics, is not the one to change. Its list of candidates is rife with nominees from political families. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular)  also have names in the fray from influential backgrounds.

There are daughters, sons, wives and brothers in the running. It’s all in the family.

Let’s take a look at the big candidates fighting the Karnataka Assembly elections 2023 with ties to powerful political families.

Congress’ ‘dynasty’ politics?

Former chief minister and Congress veteran Siddaramaiah has replaced his son Yathindra from the Varuna seat. In the 2018 assembly election, the current chief minister hopeful had given this seat to his son.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge has been nominated from Chittapur SC seat.

Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar’s nomination has been accepted by the election commission from the Kanakapura assembly constituency, reported NDTV. In a surprise move, his  brother – Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh – had filed nomination papers from the Kanakapura constituency on Thursday (20 April). As per Hindustan Times (HT), it was a precautionary step by Congress in case Shivakumar’s nomination was disqualified.

Lingayat heavyweight Shamanur Shivashankrappa has been given a ticket from Davanagere South, while his son SS Mallikarjun is a candidate from the Davanagere North constituency.

KH Muniyappa is a candidate from Devanahalli (SC) seat, while his daughter Roopakala M has been nominated from Kolar Gold Field- SC seat.

Karnataka Congress working president and former minister Ramalinga Reddy is contesting from BTM Layout and his daughter – MLA Sowmya Reddy – has again been fielded from the Jayanagar seat.

M Krishnappa and his son Priyakrishna will contest from Vijaynagar and Govindraj Nagar, respectively.

Nivedith Alva, son of Congress veteran Margaret Alva, has been fielded from Kumta.

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JD(S) – All in the family?

Most family members of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda are in politics and this is more highlighted by JD(S)’s ticket distribution. Father-son duos have also been nominated by the JD(S).

Deve Gowda’s son HD Kumaraswamy has been Karnataka’s chief minister twice. Kumaraswamy will contest from the Channapatna seat, while his son Nikhil has been fielded from Ramanagara – the constituency currently held by his mother Anitha.

Holenrasipura MLA HD Revanna, Deve Gowda’s other son and Kumaraswamy’s older brother, is again contesting from the seat.

Revanna’s wife Bhavani wanted a ticket from the Hassan Assembly seat, however, Kumaraswamy resisted the idea, reported NDTV. Swaroop Prakash has been given a ticket by the party from the constituency.

GT Devegowda is JD(S)’s candidate from Chamundeshwari, while his son Harish Gowda has been nominated from Hunsur.

‘Parivarvaad’ in BJP?

Karnataka chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai, is the son of former chief minister the late Somappa Rayappa Bommai. The incumbent chief minister is the BJP’s candidate from Shiggaon in the Haveri district, where he will face Congress’ Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan.

Former Karnataka chief minister and party strongman BS Yediyurappa is not contesting the elections.

His son BY Vijayendra has replaced him to contest from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district.

As per a PTI report, Yediyurappa followed in his “lucky” Ambassador car when Vijayendra went to file his nomination for the May 10 Assembly election.

MLA Ravi Subramanya, who is seeking re-election from Basavanagudi, is the uncle of Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.

Mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy’s brothers – Somashekhar Reddy and Karunakar Reddy – will be contesting from Bellary City and Harapanahalli, respectively.

Ramesh Jarkiholi and Balachandra Jarkiholi are brothers, with the former allotted a ticket from the Gokak seat and the latter from Arabhavi.

The family of late minister Umesh Katti, a Lingayat leader from the Belagavi district, has received two tickets. His son Nikhil Katti is the candidate from the Hukkeri Assembly seat and the late minister’s brother Ramesh Katti is fighting from Chikkodi -Sadalaga seat, as per The Hindu.

BJP MP Karadi Sanganna’s daughter-in-law, Manjula Amaresh, has been given the ticket from Koppal. According to an Economic Times report, he sought the ticket for himself but the party was not in favour of fielding him or any of his family members. After he allegedly threatened to quit the party, the BJP took the move to nominate Amaresh so as not to lose another Lingayat leader.

Snubbing sitting MLA Aravind Limbavali from Mahadevapura (SC) constituency, the BJP has nominated his wife Manjula Aravind Limbavali from the seat.

Minister Shashikala Jolle is the nominee from the Nippani seat. Her husband Anna Saheb Jolle is a member of parliament from Chikkodi.

Chincholi candidate Avinash Jadhav is the son of Gulbarga MP Umesh Jadhav.

Chandrakant Patil, a candidate from Gulbarga North, is the son of BG Patil who was an MLC.

Both Karnataka transport minister B Sriramulu (Ballari) and his nephew TH Suresh Babu (Kampli) have been given tickets.

Tourism minister Anand Singh has been replaced by his son Siddharth Singh as the Vijayanagar candidate.

With inputs from agencies

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