LS Election Results: Five key Karnataka constituencies to look out for

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Bengaluru, June 3, 2024: When results of Lok Sabha polls are announced Tuesday, five key constituencies of Karnataka are expected to hog the limelight for several reasons, including the high-profile nature of candidates contesting from the segments.

Although exit polls have given an edge to the BJP-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka, Congress leaders have maintained that the results on June 4 will belie the predictions made.

Bengaluru Rural: This constituency, which includes parts of Bengaluru city, is witnessing one of the most high-profile contests in Karnataka. Two heavyweights – D K Suresh from the Congress and Dr C N Manjunath from the BJP – are in the fray. This was the only seat the Congress had won in 2019, when the BJP swept the state to win 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats. While Suresh is the brother of deputy CM and KPCC president D K Shivakumar, Dr Manjunath is the son-in-law of JD(S) supremo and former PM H D Deve Gowda. The constituency is expected to see a close contest despite indications by exit polls that the BJP would break the streak of three consecutive wins by Suresh. Since the constituency was formed post delimitation in 2008, the BJP has never won this seat. A win for the saffron party would help it make considerable inroads in the Vokkaliga-dominated South Karnataka region. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Suresh had won this seat by more than two lakh votes.

Hassan: The Hassan Lok Sabha seat has attracted nationwide attention due to BJP-JD(S) coalition candidate Prajwal Revanna. The sitting MP from Hassan is in the eye of a storm after multiple cases of sexual assault and rape were registered against him mere hours after polling ended in constituencies of Southern Karnataka on April 26. He is the grandson of Deve Gowda, who had ceded his seat to him in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Hassan is considered a JD(S) bastion and the accused MP is expected to sail through in the election. The Congress had fielded Shreyas Patel, grandson of former minister late G Puttaswamy Gowda. Patel had narrowly lost to Prajwal Revanna’s father H D Revanna at Holenarsipur in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Mandya: This is the third seat in the Vokkaliga bastion where a member of the Deve Gowda family is in the fray. Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy is contesting on a JD(S) ticket here. This is among the three constituencies that the BJP shared with JD(S) as part of the coalition arrangement. Kumaraswamy, who is currently an MLA from Channapatna constituency, was said to be pushed by the BJP leadership to contest from Mandya while the JD(S) had mulled fielding other leaders to contest from the segment. The former CM, who is currently JD(S) state president, contested against Congress’s Venkataramegowda alias Star Chandru. Venkataramegowda runs an infrastructure firm and declared assets worth Rs 267 crore, making him one of the richest candidates in the fray.

Gulbarga: Once a bastion of the Congress, the party’s dominance was breached in 2019 when the BJP secured a shock win after Umesh Jadhav turned giant slayer to defeat AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge. After facing his first defeat in his electoral career, Kharge did not contest the 2024 polls citing age-related concerns. The party then decided to field Radhakrishna Doddamani, son-in-law of Kharge, who had worked behind the scenes in Kharge’s previous election wins.
Although the Congress is considered a favourite to win the seat, Jadhav has put up a strong fight in a bid to be elected MP for the second time.

Shivamogga: At Shivamogga, the main candidates hail from two political families that have dominated the political landscape of the region for the last two to three decades. The BJP candidate is B Y Raghavendra, son of BJP Parliamentary Board member and former CM B S Yediyurappa, while the Congress has fielded Geetha Shivarajkumar, daughter of former CM S Bangarappa. Another prominent candidate is BJP rebel K S Eshwarappa, who decided to contest as an Independent after the BJP denied a ticket to his son K E Kantesh, who was an aspirant for the neighbouring Haveri Lok Sabha constituency. Due to the clout of Yediyurappa in the region, the BJP will be the favourite to retain the seat.