Karnataka Assembly elections 2023: Key battles to watch out for

Karnataka Assembly elections 2023: Exit polls have shown a neck-to-neck race between the BJP and the Congress

After months of high-decibel campaigns and heated exchanges, all eyes would be on the results of the key electoral battle for the southern state of Karnataka. The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Janata Dal (Secular) are in a three-way race to win the majority in the 224-seater Karnataka Assembly. The BJP hopes to retain power in an election which could well prove to be a litmus test for the popularity of the party ahead of the 2024 general elections.
 
Exit polls have shown a neck-to-neck race between the BJP and the Congress. In a closely fought assembly poll, JD(S) could well emerge as the kingmaker.

 
In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJP had emerged as the single largest party , winning 104 seats out of 204, followed by the Congress at 80 and JD (S) with 37 seats.
 

The majority mark in the 224-seat assembly is 113 seats.
 
The results will be declared tomorrow.
 
Here are a few key constituencies to watch out for:
 
Kanakpura

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Chief D K Shivakumar will take on the incumbent Revenue Minister R Ashok.
Highly regarded in BJP, Ashok is an ex-deputy chief minister of Karnataka. Shivakumar has been perceived as close to the Gandhi family and has been projected as Congress’s Vokkaliga face in the elections. He has retained the Kanakpura constituency since 2008. Nagaraj will represent JD (S) in the hotly contested battle for the seat.

 
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda had previously represented this constituency.
 
Shiggaon

Congress has fielded Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan in the high stakes Shiggaon constituency, which Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai currently represents.

Bommai is again contesting the Assembly elections from his hometown Shiggaon, where he has been elected thrice since 2008. Congress expects Pathan to provide a formidable challenge to Bommai whose government is facing several corruption charges.
 
Earlier, the Congress had replaced Mohammed Yousuf Savanur with Pathan in its final list of candidates for the Assembly polls.
 
Channapatna

Channapatna will see ex-Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy face off against BJP’s C P Yogeshwar. Congress’s Gangadhar S will join the fray in a three-way race where Kumaraswamy, the JD (S) chief, would be eager to prove his mettle.

Kumaraswamy will be hoping to win from the Channapatna seat for a second consecutive term. In the 2018 election, he won from both Ramanagara and Channapatna seats.
 
Hubli-Dharwal Central

BJP’s Mahesh Tenginkai will enter the electoral fray against Congress’s Jagadish Shettar. Shettar, who is the ex-chief minister of the state, was refused a ticket to contest the elections by the BJP and switched to Congress before the Assembly polls. The 67- year old Lingayat leader has been a six-time MLA and has held various positions within the BJP including the state president. Jagadish Shettar’s victory from the crucial seat could be a game-changer for the Congress’ fortunes in the polls.

 
Shikaripura

The son of ex-chief minister B S Yediyurappa, B Y Vijayendra will represent BJP in the Shikaripura constituency and will face Congress’s G B Malatesh. The constituency has been a stronghold for B S Yediyuruppa. The electoral results for the seat will be keenly watched. Sudhakar Shetty will contest on a JD(S) ticket in the crucial seat.