New Delhi, April 23: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released its fourth list of candidates for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections 2018. In this list, the party has named its candidates from seven constituencies.
So, far the BJP has revealed the names of its candidates from 220 out of the 224 constituencies. The party is expected to release its final list of candidates by tomorrow, which is also the last date for the filing of nominations.
BJP's 4th List of Candidates:
BJP releases fourth list of 7 candidates for #KarnatakaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/awjRV68sVG
— ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2018
The Congress, meanwhile, has named its candidates from all seats barring the Melkote assembly segment, where the party is supporting Swaraj India candidate Darshan Puttannaiah.
Facing dissent from a section of its cadres, the party aso replaced candidates declared in the first list from six constituencies. In another major decision, the Congress has decided to field Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from two constituencies. Apart from the Chamundeswari seat, the 69-year-old will also fight from Badami constituency in North Karnataka.
By fielding Siddaramaiah from a seat in North Karnataka, the party aims to ward off the charges of regional disparity levelled by the BJP. The Opposition has charged the incumbent Congress government of focussing only on the South Karnataka regions of Bengaluru and Mysore.
The assembly polls in the state are slated to be held on May 12. The results, as per the schedule, will be declared on May 15.
The first major opinion poll release earlier in the month gave the Congress an edge moving into the elections, but ended up predicting a hung assembly. The India Today survey predicted the Congress to win 90-110 seats, followed by the BJP which is expected to bag 72-86. The JD(S), the opinion poll claimed, could win from around 40 constituencies.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2018 03:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).