This is the first time in the last 15 years that Kharge is not in the Lok Sabha election contest. Kharge was the MP from Gulbarga from 2009-2014. He lost his seat in 2019. Currently, he is the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
Kalaburagi-born Radhakrishna is a businessman. Keeping a low profile, he has been working behind the scenes, managing and strategizing Kharge’s campaigns. The party has not yet finalized candidates for Kolar, Chikballapur, Chamarajanagar and Bellary seats.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter Soumya Reddy (Bengaluru South), Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka Jarkiholi (Chikkodi), Women and Child Development Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar’s son Mrinal Hebbalkar (Belgaum), Agriculture Marketing Minister Shivanand Patil’s daughter Sanyukta Patil. (Bagalkot) and Forest Minister Ishwar Khandre’s son Sagar Khandre (Bidar) will contest the elections.
Candidates for remaining seats: Raichur: Former IAS officer G Kumar Naik, Koppal: Rajshekhar Hitnal, Dharwad: Vinod Asuti, Uttar Kannada: Anjali Nimbalkar, Davanagere: Prabha Mallikarjun, Udupi-Chikmagalur: Jayaprakash Hegde, Dakshina Kannada: Padmaraja, Chitradurga: B N Chandrappa, Mysore: M Laxman, Bengaluru North: M V Rajeev Gowda and Bengaluru Central: Mansoor Ali Khan.
