The Janata Dal (Secular) released its first list of 93 candidates for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections on Monday.
The list was released after consent from the former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, party state president CM Ibrahim said.
The party also announced that former chief minister and senior JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy would contest from the Channapatna constituency, around 60 kilometres from the state capital.
Meanwhile, his son Nikhil got a ticket from the Ramanagara constituency, currently represented by his mother, Anitha Kumaraswamy. He had unsuccessfully contested the Mandya Lok Sabha election in 2019 and lost to the BJP-backed independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh.
Anitha announced Nikhil as her successor in the constituency at the regional party’s Pancha Ratna Yatra in Ramanagara on Saturday. Making the announcement, Anitha said she would give up her constituency for Nikhil.
Senior JD(S) leader and former minister GT Devegowda will be contesting from the Chamundeshwari constituency, while his son Harish Gowda will contest from the Hunsur constituency. GT Devegowda had been threatening to leave the party for some time and stayed back with the party after a meeting with Deve Gowda.
Meanwhile, the party has given tickets to Nagaraj and CMR Shrinath from Gubbi and Kolar constituencies in place of expelled MLAs. On June 22, the party expelled Gubbi MLA SR Srinivas and Kolar MLA Srinivas Gowda for allegedly cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha polls earlier this year.
After releasing the first list of 93 candidates, Kumaraswamy said both BJP and Congress would be “rejected” by the people in the state. Kumaraswamy also said that to survive, the BJP would have to go to the JD(S) after the 2023 elections, hinting at a fractured mandate.
The party had earlier announced that it would be releasing the list of names during the launch of the Pancha Ratna Yatra at Mulbagal in the Kolar district in November but had postponed it to an “auspicious day”. The party had kick-started the yatra on November 1, but it was postponed due to incessant rains.
In 2018, the party won 37 seats in the assembly polls, and Kumaraswamy became the chief minister after a post-poll alliance with the Congress, which won 78 seats. BJP remained the single largest party by winning 104 seats.
However, five of them resigned from the Karnataka assembly, staging a coup against the Kumaraswamy-led coalition government of the JD(S) and Congress in July 2019.
These five MLAs were among the 18 MLAs disqualified by then Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar.
After disqualification, the coalition government collapsed, and the BJP came to power. A majority of the disqualified MLAs joined the BJP, contested the bypolls in December 2019, won the election and became ministers in the new government.
The party will release the remaining 131 candidates in the coming days, party officials said. JD(S) is the first party in the state to announce its list of candidates. The party aims to win 123 seats in the upcoming elections.
