Campaign to pick up momentum for Karna second phase poll; PM

As 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka go to polls Thursday, the focus has shifted to the second phase next week with leaders hitting the campaign trail in the northern belt of the state.

Of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, fourteen in the northern parts will go to polls on April 23 in the second phase.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address rallies in Bagalkot and Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituencies Thursday.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is set to campaign in Raichur and Chikkodi segments a day later.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy along with Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar Wednesday campaigned for JD(S) Shimoga candidate Madhu Bangarappa, son of former chief minister S Bangarappa.

Madhu is pitted against another former chief minister B S Yeddyurappas son and sitting BJP MP B Y Raghavendra.

Addressing a rally, Kumaraswamy asserted that BJP and Yeddyurappa would lose their hold in Shimogga.

Former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah campaigned for veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is seeking re-election from Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat.

Yeddyurappa, the state BJP chief, also cavassed votes in the constituency for his partys candidate Umesh Jadhav, who recently joined the saffron party after quitting Congress.

He questioned Kharges contribution to Gulbarga during his long political career while Siddaramaiah hit out at BJP candidate Jadhav for switching loyalties.

In the 14 constituencies going to polls on April 23, BJP is contesting in all the seats and the Congress and JD(S), who have an alliance, have fielded their candidates in 12 and 2 seats respectively.

Congress currently holds only 4 out of 14 seats -- Chikkodi, Gulbarga, Bellary, Raichur -- while the other ten are with BJP.

Several parts of northern districts are seen as a BJP bastions dominated by the Lingayat community, considered strong vote base of the party.

A total of 237 candidates are in the fray for the 14 seats with Belgaum topping with 57 nominees and Raichur the lowest of five contestants.

Besides Kharge, Madhu Bangarappa, Raghavendra and Umesh Jadhav, Union Ministers Ananth Kumar Hegde from Uttara Kannada, Ramesh Jigajinagi from Bijapur are the other prominent contestants in the fray in second phase.