Lok Sabha elections: Congress, JD(S) face hurdles in Tumakuru & Shivamogga

BENGALURU: With barely 48 hours remaining to file nomination papers for the 14

Lok Sabha

seats going to the polls on April 18, more fissures between the Congress and JD(S) are appearing, and the BJP is grappling with last-minute candidate announcements.


Bengaluru South - a high-stakes constituency that's been in the BJP bag for nearly three decades - is set to see a gladiatorial battle between Congress veteran BK Hariprasad and the BJP, which was yet to announce its candidate till late Sunday night.

JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda is set to file his nomination papers from Tumakuru between 2.15pm and 3.15pm on Monday, but the road ahead is paved with hurdles after the incumbent, Muddahanume Gowda of the Congress, declared his intention to enter the fray. Though the Congress said they would ask the rebel to withdraw his candidature, the development could strain the ties between Congress and JD(S) to an extent.

The alliance partners - who have agreed to contest the polls together, with the Congress fielding candidates from 20 constituencies and the JD(S) from the rest - ran into another hurdle in Shivamogga where supporters of two MLAs are not willing to campaign together. Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S) is up against the BJP's BY Raghavendra in Shivamogga. Bhadravathi Congress MLA BK Sangameshwar said, "If we campaign together, a scuffle may break out. There are some local problems," he said.


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