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The Congress is also banking heavily on the state government’s guarantee schemes and remains optimistic that they will pay the party electoral dividends.Among the candidates in the fray for the May 7 polls is Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, who is seeking a fifth straight term from Dharwad.There will be a by-poll to the Shorapur assembly constituency in Yadgir district on May 7 following the death of Congress MLA Raja Venkatappa Naik in February this year.The 14 segments going to polls on Tuesday are: Belgaum (Belagavi), Uttara Kannada, Chikkodi, Bagalkot (Bagalkote), Bidar, Haveri, Dharwad, Koppal, Bellari (Ballari), Raichur, Bijapur (Vijayapura), Davangere and Shimoga (Shivamogga) and Gulbarga (Kalaburagi).According to the Election Commission, 227 candidates are in the fray.The BJP and the Congress have fielded 14 candidates each while the Bahujan Samaj Party is trying its luck in nine seats.There are 117 independents.Also, 73 people are fighting the election from registered unrecognised parties.The 14 constituencies have 2.59 crore voters, the EC said, adding, there are a total of 28,257 main polling stations.Among the BJP contestants are: former Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri) and Jagadish Shettar (Belgaum), former Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri (Uttara Kannada) and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra (Shimoga).Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is contesting from Gulbarga.The Congress has fielded Minister Eshwar Khandre’s son Sagar Khandre (Bidar), Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar’s son Mrinal Hebbalkar (Belgaum), Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka Jarkiholi (Chikkodi), Minister Shivanand Patil’s daughter Samyukta Patil (Bagalkot) and Geetha Shivarajkumar, who is wife of Kannada film actor Shivarajkumar and daughter of former Chief Minister late S Bangarappa (Shimoga).As Congress has fielded Karnataka Minister for Mines and Geology S S Mallikarjun’s wife Prabha Mallikarjun from Davangere, the BJP gave ticket to Gayathri Siddeshwara, who is wife of MP G M Siddeshwara.The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements to increase voter turnout amid the soaring temperatures in the 14 constituencies.From arranging shamianas and tents, additional fans and drinking water facilities, to keeping ambulances on standby and using adjacent rooms of the polling booth as waiting areas, the Election Commission is making efforts to ensure that the polling percentage is not affected due to the “harsh summer”.In this first phase, Karnataka recorded 69.56 per cent voter turnout.Speaking to PTI, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena said the constituencies where polling will take place on May 7 are in North Karnataka region and the temperature is slightly high there, “so we have made all necessary arrangements to ensure that people aren’t deterred from coming out of their homes to vote.”
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Campaigning for second phase of 14 LS seats ends in Karnataka as ‘sex scandal’ dominates narrative
