BJP announces second list of Lok Sabha candidates; Yeddyurappa gets a ticket

NEW DELHI: Former Karnataka Chief Ministers BS Yeddyurappa and DV Sadananda Gowda, senior leader Ananth Kumar and journalist Chandan Mitra featured in the 52 Lok Sabha candidates the BJP listed on Saturday from states such as Assam, West Bengal and Odisha.

Yeddyurappa, who was forced to resign as Karnataka chief minister in July 2011 after he was indicted by the state Lokayukta in a graft case, will contest from Shimoga.

His son, BY Raghvendra had won the seat in 2009. Yeddyurappa’s successor Sadananda Gowda will contest from Bangalore (North) while bete noire Ananth Kumar will attempt to retain the Bangalore (South) seat.

Kumar may face a tough challenge from UIDAI boss Nandan Nilekani, who will contest on a Congress ticket. Since resigning as CM, Yeddyurappa had quit the BJP and formed his own party, Karnataka Janata Paksh, in November 2012. His return to the party seemed inevitable after BJP lost badly in last year’s assembly elections and KJP too fared badly. Yeddyurappa merged his party with BJP in January.

During his homecoming, BJP insisted that Yeddyurappa would not contest the Lok Sabha elections due to the corruption taint. The huge support he enjoys among the Lingayats — the largest community in Karnataka — may have influenced the BJP’s decision.

“Merely levelling charges against Yeddyurappa cannot be reason enough for not giving him a ticket. He is a well-known farmer leader from the state,” said Ananth Kumar. The BJP declared 20 candidates from Karnataka and the remaining eight will be announced on March 13. Twelve among those who figure in Saturday’s list are sitting MPs while three were denied a ticket.

Rajya Sabha MP and editor of The Pioneer newspaper Chandan Mitra will contest from Hooghly in West Bengal. The candidates’ list from the state, comprising 17 names, includes singer Babul Supriyo (Asansol), and actors Joy Banerjee (Birbhum) and Nimu Bhowmick (Raiganj).

Three sitting MPs — Bijoya Chakraborty (Guwahati), Raman Deka (Mangaldoi) and Rajen Gohain (Nowgong) — figure in the BJP’s list of five candidates from Assam.