BJP releases list of 72 candidates, Yeddyurappa to contest from Shikaripura

The BJP's Central Election Committee on Sunday announced its first list of 72 candidates for the May 12 Assembly elections in Karnataka, where the saffron party hopes to return to power.  

MP and state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa will contest from the Shikaripura Assembly constituency, while B Sriramulu, party MP from Ballari district, will be the candidate from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district.  The meeting, chaired by BJP president Amit Shah, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar, BJP general secretary in-charge of the state P Muralidhar Rao and national joint organising secretary B L Santosh.

Yeddyurappa, Union Ministers in-charge of Karnataka Prakash Javadekar and Piyush Goyal and state BJP organising secretary Arun Kumar also attended the meeting, which lasted for more than three hours.

Central election committee secretary J P Nadda released the list at a press conference here.  Modi's campaigns in the state and the programmes of other Central leaders were discussed in the meeting. The issue of countering the Congress and JD(S) were also raised, sources   said.

Shashikala Jolle (Nippani); Laxman Savadi (Athani); Bharamagouda H Kage (Kagwad); P Rajeev (Kudachi-SC); Duryodhana Aihole (Raibagh); Umesh Katti (Hukkeri); Balachandra Jarakiholi (Arabhavi); Sanjay Patil (Belgaum Rural); Vishwanath Patil (Bailhongal); Anand Vishwanath Mamani (Saudatti Yellamma); Govind Karjol (Mudhol-SC); A S Patil Nadahalli (Muddebihal); Vijugouda Patil (Babaleshwar); Basavanagouda Patil Yetnal (Bijapur City); Ramesh Bhusanur (Sindgi); Malikayya Guttedar (Afzalpur); Narasimha Naik (Shorapur-ST); Guru Patil Shiraval (Shahapur); Dattatreya Patil Revur (Gulbarga Dakshin); Subhash Guttedar (Aland); Mallikarjun Khuba (Basavakalyan); Prabhu Chouhan (Aurad-SC); Thipparaju Havaldar (Raichur Rural-ST); Shivaraj Patil (Raichur); Shivanagouda Naik (Devadurga-ST); Manappa Vajjal (Lingsugur-SC); Doddanagouda Patil (Kushtagi); Amruth Desai (Dharwad); Jagadish Shettar (Hubli-Dharwad Central); Aravind Bellad (Hubli-Dharwad West); Roopali Naik (Karwar); Kageri Vishweswara Hegde (Sirsi); C M Udasi (Hangal); Basavaraj Bommai (Shiggaon); U B Banakar (Hirekerur); Gaviyappa (Vijayanagara); T H Suresh Babu (Kampli-ST);

B Raghavendra (Sandur-ST); B Sriramulu (Molakalmuru-ST); G H Thippareddy (Chitradurga); Poornima Srinivas (Hiriyur); Gulihatti D Shekhar (Hosadurga); S A Ravindranath (Davangere North); K S Eshwarappa (Shimogga); B S Yeddyurappa (Shikaripura); Haladi Srinivasa Shetty (Kundapura); V Sunil Kumar (Karkala); D N Jeevaraj (Sringeri); C T Ravi (Chikkamagaluru); B Suresh Gowda (Tumkur Rural); Y Sampangi (Kolar Gold Fields-SC); S R Vishwanath (Yelahanka); P M Muniraju Gowda (Rajarajeshwari Nagar); S Muniraju (Dasarahalli); C N Ashwathanarayan (Malleswaram); Y A Narayanaswamy (Hebbal); S Raghu (C V Raman Nagar - SC); S Suresh Kumar (Rajajinagar); V Somanna (Govindaraj Nagar); Uday Garudachar (Chickpet); Ravi Subramanya (Basavanagudi); R Ashoka (Padmanabhanagar); B N Vijayakumar (Jayanagar); Aravind Limbavali (Mahadevapura - SC);

Satish Reddy (Bommanahalli); M Krishnappa (Bangalore South); A Narayanaswamy (Anekal - SC); Sharath Bachchegowda (Hosakote); C P Yogeeshwara (Channapatna); Nanjundegowda (Srirangapatna); S Angara (Sullia - SC) and Appachu Ranjan (Madikeri)