Karnataka election: BJP's first list of 189 candidates include 52 new faces

BJP announced the first list of its candidates for Karnataka Assembly polls which are scheduled to be held on May 10. BJP introduced 52 new faces to the list

The ruling party in the state, BJP, has announced its first list of candidates in 189 constituencies total of 224, for the Karnataka Assembly polls held on May 10.

BJP has included 52 new faces in the list in line with the experiment it did Gujarat. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the poll in charge for the state, said, "Young leadership has been given preference in the selection of the candidates."

The key news here is that 11 incumbent leaders have been replaced. The 11 names also include veteran leader B.S. Yediyurappa, who left his constituency for his son B.Y. Vijayendra, and Halady Srinivas Shetty, who announced his retirement from electoral politics.

The ruling party tried to include all the sections of the community and tried to cover all the castes in the first list. The senior BJP leader, Arun Singh, confirmed that out of 189 candidates in the first list, 52 are new faces, 32 candidates are from OBC, 30 are from SC, and 16 are from the ST community. The list also includes 8 women.

BJP aims to return to the power

BJP is aiming to return to power for the second consecutive time again. CM Basavaraj Bommai asserted before the release of the first list that the party is taking some tough decisions.

The BJP is making all efforts to retain its power with an absolute majority and targeting more than 150 seats in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly election.

BJP central election committee held a meeting on April 9

BJP central election committee, together with senior leaders, held a meeting on April 9 under the chairmanship of JP Nadda. 

Nadda also took the second round of deliberation with state leaders to finalise the names of candidates after accounting for personal details and political calculations.

Karnataka CM said, "Our leadership and values are different. To create a new system, we are taking tough decisions." He further added it was Eshwarappa's personal decision to opt out of the Karnataka assembly election 2023.

The nomination filing will start on April 13 for the polls, which are scheduled on May 10, and the result will be declared on May 13.