Karnataka Elections 2023 Dates Announced, Here Are The Top Candidates To Look Out For

The poll schedule for the Karnataka elections was announced by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday, March 29. The polls will be held in a single phase scheduled for May 10 while the results will be declared on May 13 after the counting of votes. Hustings for the polls have already begun and as the battle between the political parties heats up, leaders are already going all out to sway the electorate.  

According to the Election Commission of India, abuse of money power and urban apathy in turning out to vote on the election date are the key challenges in the elections. Karnataka Assembly elections 2023 will see the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Janata Dal Secular (JDS) involved in a triangular contest in the state.

Some of the important political figures who will be contesting in the upcoming elections of the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly include:

Basavaraj Bommai

Bommai is the current chief minister of Karnataka and a possible CM candidate of the BJP. He took over as CM in July 2021 after BS Yediyurappa resigned. Bommai is considered a close confidant of Yediyurappa and was handpicked by him to be his successor. In the 2018 elections, he won the Shiggaon seat for the third time. He is the son of the 11th chief minister of Karnataka, Somappa Rayappa Bommai, who was also the founder of the Janata Party.

CM Bommai left the JDS, which had broken away from the Janata Party, and joined the BJP in February 2008. A mechanical engineer, Bommai has served at various levels in the BJP, right from an MLC to a state minister. He worked at Tata Motors and then became an industrialist. 

Siddaramaiah

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah served as the Karnataka chief minister from 2013 to 2018. He is also a former JDS leader and two-time deputy chief Minister of the state. The Congress leader comes from a farming family and completed his B.Sc and Bachelor of Law from Mysore University. He worked as a junior lawyer before venturing into politics in 1978 contesting from the Chamundeshwari constituency. In 2013, he became the Congress legislative party leader. 

HD Kumaraswamy

The Janata Dal Secular leader Kumaraswamy has served two terms as the chief minister from 2006 to 2007 and 2018 to 2019. The Vokkaliga leader is also into Kannada film industry as a producer, distributor and exhibitor. He is the son of former prime minister HD Devegowda.    

In the 2018 Karnataka elections, JDS allied with Congress and Kumaraswamy became the Chief Minister. However, he had to step down after 14 months following a revolt in the party.

DK Shivakumar

Shivakumar is a senior leader of the Congress and the current president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. He won from the Kanakapura assembly constituency in Bengaluru rural in 2018. He is known as a Congress troubleshooter.