The Congress has released its first list of 124 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly polls fielding Opposition leader Siddaramaiah from Varuna constituency and retaining most of the old faces.

Presently, the seat in Mysuru district is being held by his son Dr. Yatindra. Siddaramaiah is also expecting a ticket from another constituency, which is likely to be announced in the second list.

Siddaramaiah
IANS

According to sources close to Siddaramaiah, the former chief minister might again contest from Badami constituency.

Varuna ticket has been given to Siddaramaiah to ensure victory without having to campaign for a long time in the constituency. However, BJP is contemplating to field former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa's son B.Y. Vijayendra from Varuna.

In this scenario, the Varuna constituency will witness a fierce competition and a high voltage campaigning with Congress's game plan of using Siddaramaiah's services across the state likely to receive a jolt.

See the full list here:

Senior Congress leader late Dhruvanarayana's son Darshan Dhruvanarayana has been allotted ticket from Nanjangud (SC) constituency, which is likely to see a close contest with BJP's B. Harshavardhan, who is son-in-law of former union minister V. Srinivasa Prasad.

Five senior Muslim candidates -- U.T. Khader (Ullal), B.Z. Zameer Ahmad Khan (Chamarajpet), Rahim Khan (Bidar) and Kaneez Fatima (Gulbarga North) have also been allotted tickets.

Rahul Gandhi, Kharge arrive in K'taka, to address public rally
Rahul Gandhi, Kharge arrive in K'taka, to address public rallyIANS

Priyakrishna is being fielded from Govindarajnagar constituency ruling out the possibility of rumours of BJP Minister V.Somanna joining Congress. The party has allotted father-son duo, Shamanur Shivashankarappa and S.S. Mallikarjun tickets from Davanagere South and Davanagere North constituencies.

Announcing the list, Shivakumar said there is no dissent in the party after the announcement of the first list of 124 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections.

Talking to reporters, he said, "There is no dissent with regard to 124 seats for which candidates have been announced. Things have been finalised after taking everyone into confidence. If at all, any crisis arises, we will sit and discuss to resolve it."

"I want all 224 constituencies. All aspirants are my people. But, when there are 10 to 15 aspirants for one seat, tickets could be given to only one. The aim is to establish a Congress government at the Vidhana Soudha," Shivakumar said.

(With inputs from IANS)

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