Three recent entrants from Congress given BJP tickets in first list

Recent entrant and Congress rebel law maker Umesh Jadhav will take on Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from Gulbarga as the BJP announced its list of 21 candidates for the two-phased Lok Sabha polls in the state.

Two other new entrants from the Congress A Manju, a former MLA, and his party colleague Devendrappa, both of whom joined the BJP recently, have been rewarded with tickets to contest from Hassan and Bellary, respectively.

Fourteen of the 21 candidates announced are sitting members.

The names of the candidates for Karnataka were part of the first list of 184 nominees for Lok Sabha