Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament, the Grand Old Party announced the first list of 124 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly Elections going to be held this year. Names of former CM Siddaramaiah, and State party president DK Shivakumar are present in the first list. Congress has fielded former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah from the Varuna assembly seat, PCC chief Shivakumar from Kanakapura according to the list.
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Mallikarjun Kharge's son to contest from Devanahalli and Chitapur (SC)
The party has fielded former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara from the Koratagere (SC) constituency. Former ministers KH Muniappa and Priyanka Kharge will contest from Devanahalli and Chitapur (SC), respectively. Priyanka is the son of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
The party's central election committee cleared the first list of candidates after a meeting in Delhi on March 17. The committee is chaired by Congress chief Kharge. Rahul Gandhi was also present at the meeting. The Congress is the first party to release its candidates' list for the elections in Karnataka.
Schedule for Karnataka Assembly Election is yet to be announced
The Election Commission is yet to announce the schedule for assembly polls in the southern state. Assembly polls in Karnataka are slated before May when the tenure of the current assembly ends. The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in the southern state.
Rahul Gandhi disqualified
A day after being convicted in the 'Modi surname' 2019 defamation case, Rahul Gandhi on Friday was disqualified as Member of Parliament. Earlier on Thursday, a court in Gujarat's Surat sentenced Congress leader Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his "Modi surname" remarks.