As per the caste-wise break up of candidates given by the KPCC, the Congress has fielded 44 Lingayat candidates this time, as against 56 tickets given in 2004 elections. To the Vokkaligas, who belong to another dominant community, it has given tickets to 33 candidates this time, as against 37 in the previous election.
Among the 37 SC candidates selected, the Right group accounts for 16 candidates, which is four down from the 20 seats given during the 2004 polls.
However, in case of the Left group, the number has increased from seven in 2004 to 10 this time. The remaining 11 tickets are given to other categories of SCs.
In case of Muslims, the party has maintained a balance by giving them 17 seats as it did in 2004.
The party has given more weightage to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) this time, by increasing the number of seats to them from 50 to 56.
Among the OBCs, the Kurubas account for the lion’s share, with 16 seats this time as against the 12 seats given last time. But the number of seats given to Idigas has come down from 11 to 7 this time.
The party has also fielded six Balija, three Billava, three Besta, one Devali, three Yadava, two Ganiga, one Kamma, six Maratha, one Naidu, one Rajput, one Savita, one Uppar, one Tigala, one Nekara, and one Vysya community candidate.
In addition, the party has given ticket to two Christian, five Brahmin, two Jain, seven Reddy, one Kodava and three Bunt candidates. In all 11 women candidates have been given ticket this time as against seven during 2004 election.
