Karnataka polls: No '1-family, 1-ticket'? Congress fields Siddaramaiah, son

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 8 announced the first list of its 72 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly election 2018, to be held on May 12

After months of speculation and six days of consultation, the All India Congress Committee on Sunday released the complete list of 218 candidates who will be contesting the Karnataka Assembly Election 2018, scheduled on May 12. Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah will contest from Chamundeshwari. Siddaramaiah's son Yatheendra has also received a ticket — he will be fighting the election from Varuna constituency. 

State party chief G Parameshwara will be in the fray from the Korategere seat. Veteran Congress Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank Kharge, the state minister for Information Technology, will contest from the Chittapur constituency. The final candidates' list contains the names of 112 sitting MLAs — only 10 sitting MLAs have not received tickets.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 8 announced its first list of 72 candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah discussed the names of the candidates at the BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting on Sunday. The party is all set to release the second set of candidates' names in a few days, according to media reports. 

Karnataka will go to the polls on May 12. The last date for filing the nominations for the 224 constituencies is April 24, while April 27 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature. Will Siddaramaiah be able to maintain his bastion or will Modi magic work again? The results will be known on May 15.  

Here is all you need to know about the list of candidates for the Karnataka Assembly Election 2018: 

1) Siddaramaiah not contesting from two seats: Setting all speculations aside, the state chief minister Siddaramaiah is not contesting from two seats. He will be contesting from his traditional bastion of the Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysore. A tough fight is expected from the Opposition BJP in this seat. 

2) Devraj Patil gets ticket for Siddaramaiah's second-best seat: Badami, Siddaramaiah's second-favourite seat from North Karnataka, has been given to Devaraj Patil. The sitting Congress MLA of Badami constituency, B B Chimankatti, did not get a ticket for the Karnataka Assembly Election 2018.

3) No 'one family, one ticket' policy this time: The ruling party in Karnataka, the Congress, has deviated from its famous  “one-family, one-ticket” rule which it followed in Punjab Assembly Election in 2017. Along with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his son Yatheendra, three other exceptions have been made this time. 

4) Exceptions to the one family, one ticket rule: Karnataka Home Minister R Ramalinga Reddy will contest from BTM Layout, while his daughter Sowmya Reddy will contest from Jayanagar.  Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister TB Jayachandra is contesting from Sira in Tumkur and his son Santosh Jayachandran will be contesting from Chikanayakanahalli. Housing Minister M Krishnappa has been given ticket from Govindrajnagar and his son Priya Krishna will contest from Vijayanagar. 

5) JD(S) rebels rewarded: Seven rebel former JD-S MLAs Zamir Ahmed Khan, Chelluvar Ayyasamy, Iqbal Ansari, Akhanda Srinivas Moorthi, Blakrishna, Bheema Nayak and Ramesh Bendi Siddhagowda, who joined the Congress party recently,  were also given tickets. 

6) 15 women, 14 Muslims get Congress tickets: Out of the 224 constituencies, 173 are reserved for the general category, 36 for the Scheduled Caste (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribe (ST). Congress party has fielded 15 women, 14 Muslims, three Christians and two Jains in Karnataka poll fray. In 2013 Assembly Elections, there were only 10 women contesting the polls.

7) BJP tickets to BLAs with Illegal ore mining taint: Two former BJP MLAs — Anand Singh and businessman B Nagendra — whose names have been mentioned in the illegal iron ore mining racket, have been given tickets in Bellary region. 

8) GB Malathesh to take on Yeddyurappa in Shikaripura: Congress party has fielded G B Malathesh against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura.

9) Congress not contesting in 6 seats: There are six seats where the Congress has not announced candidates are Sindgi, Nagthan, Melukote, Kittur, Raichur and Shantinagar. In Melukote, the ruling party may support Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha. 

10) Lingayats in focus: Maintaining its past record, Congress party has given the major chunk of the tickets to Lingayat community. They have the power to decide the fate of candidates in as many as 100 seats.