Karnataka Congress may field ministers to take on BJP in strong seats as it aims 20 constituencies

The ruling Congress in Karnataka is expected to field a bunch of ministers with proven electoral track record in their respective districts in the upcoming Lok Sabha election as the party has begun preparations to win at least 20 seats in the state.

The Congress is determined to consolidate the gains made in the May assembly polls, and neutralise the BJP's influence in most of the seats held by the party, Congress sources said. The Congress is keen on fielding ministers as it does not have formidable candidates in many seats, sources said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said the party leadership has called him to Delhi on January 4 to discuss the Parliament elections. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar has said the party will discuss reports from ministers on probable candidates in different constituencies. The party would conduct a survey on these names, he said.


In the 2019 LS polls, the BJP won 25 out of 28 seats, leaving one seat each for the JDS and Congress. Former actor Sumalatha Ambareesh won the Mandya seat as an independent candidate with the BJP's backing.

With the LS polls coming in less than a year after the government formation, many ministers are said to be reluctant to take the plunge as they want to remain in the state politics. They are, instead, suggesting other names or a member of their own families, sources added.

Among the ministers, KH Muniyappa earlier represented the Kolar (SC) seat and was even a union minister during the UPA reign. Muniyappa is said to be amenable to the idea to wrest the seat from the BJP, but is said to have asked the party leaders to induct his daughter into the ministry.

In 2009, Krishna Byre Gowda, the present Revenue Minister, had lost by a margin of about 37,000 votes against BJP's Ananth Kumar in Bengaluru South. The Congress is also weighing on the names of ministers N Chaluvarayaswamy (Mandya), Ramalinga Reddy (Bengaluru South), RB Thimmapur (Vijayapura), Satish Jarkiholi (Belagavi), HC Mahadevappa (Chamarajanagar) and KJ George (Bengaluru Central).

Two BJP lawmakers ST Somashekhar (Yeshvantpur) and Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur) have distanced themselves from their party, and are rumoured to join the Congress after the announcement of the general election. Former BJP minister V Somanna seems undecided yet on joining the Congress, but his discomfort with BJP has only increased after his bitter rival BY Vijayendra was named the party's state president. If the BJP manages to retain him, then there are speculations that he might contest from Tumakuru.

The upcoming polls have narrowed the contest between the Congress and BJP as the latter has struck an alliance with the JDS, though the two parties are yet to finalise the seat sharing.