Karnataka elections 2023: Shiggaon, Kanakapura, and other key constituencies

The Karnataka elections 2023 are scheduled for May 10 and the results of the polls will be announced on May 13. Voting will take place between 7 am and 6 pm and as many as 2,615 candidates are in the fray in 224 assembly constituencies. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, and the Congress, led by Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are the top contenders in Karnataka, while the Janata Dal (Secular), led by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda's son HD Kumaraswamy, is likely to play kingmaker.  

Here are the key constituencies to look out for in the Karnataka elections:

Key constituencies in Karnataka elections 2023

Shiggaon: With Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the fray, Shiggaon is set to witness one of the most high-voltage contests. Bommai will be up against Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan from Congress and Sashidhar Channabasappa Yaligar from JD(S). Bommai has won Shiggaon thrice -- 2008, 2013 and 2018. In the last assembly elections, Bommai won by a margin of 9,000 votes.  

Kanakapura: DK Shivakumar, the Karnataka Congress chief, is contesting the polls from Kanakapura. He is going up against BJP's R Ashoka. Shivakumar, a seven-time MLA, has won Kanakapura thrice since 2008. His competition, R Ashoka, is a six-time MLA.   

Varuna- Senior Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah will contest the election from Varuna, which is his stronghold. Siddaramaiah's son Yathindra is the sitting MLA from Varuna. Siddaramaiah has won Varuna in 2008 and 2013. He will be up against Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka Housing Minister V Somanna and JD(S) candidate Bharathi Shankar. 

Channapatna- JD(S) leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy will be up against 5-time MLA CP Yogeshwara, a BJP candidate, from this constituency in Ramanagara district. Both the contenders are Vokkaligas, one of the dominant communities in Karnataka after Lingayats, which makes for a tough contest. Notably, his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy has also been fielded here and will challenge the BJP's Goutham Gowda and Congress candidate Iqbal Hussain. 

Shikaripura- The Shikaripura seat is the BJP's stronghold and it will be defended by former CM and BJP veteran BS Yediyurappa's son BY Vijayendra. He will defend the constituency in Shivamogga against Congress candidate Goni Malatesha. The BJP has only lost twice from Shikaripura- first in 1999 and again in 2013- since 1983.  

The fate of these candidates will be decided by 5,31,33,054 voters who are eligible to cast their votes. As many as 58,545 polling stations have been set up across the state.