BJP minister quits, as seat denied, in Karnataka

Angara S, a state minister and six-time MLA for the Bharatiya Janata Party, said on Wednesday that he will stop participating in politics after being denied a ticket for the next Assembly elections in Karnataka.

On April 11, the BJP released the names of the 189 candidates on the first list, and on April 12, the names of the 23 candidates on the second list. Both lists lacked Angara's name.

He is a scheduled caste candidate who was denied a ticket to run for the same seat this time. He is an MLA from Sullia in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. A ticket was handed to Bhagirathi Murulya from the seat.

The Minister responded by saying that the development was his "setback" due to his honesty.

"Lobbying was not my hobby," he declared.

"I'm quitting politics, not even during the election season. The new candidate may be taken care of by the Party (BJP)," the Minister continued.

The BJP has offered tickets to numerous young people in its initial list of candidates. Tickets have been distributed to as many as 52 fresh faces.

The list includes 30 applicants from the Scheduled Caste community and 32 candidates from the OBC category.

The party has replaced seven sitting MLAs on the second list.

The list indicates that Nagaraja Chabbi, who recently switched from the Congress to the BJP, has been handed the nomination to run in the Kalghatgi constituency.

The second list did not include NR Santosh, a close cousin of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. GV Basavaraju received a ticket to run for office in the Arsikere district.

The party has handed Deepak Doddaiah the ticket to represent the Mudigere seat. Kumar Swamy, the current Mudigere MLA, was unable to be included on the list.

Gururaj Gantihole of the Byndoor seat has been handed the BJP's nomination. Sukumar Shetty, a sitting MLA who did not receive the ticket, was replaced by him.

According to the most recent list, Shivakumar received a ticket from Madal Virupakshappa's seat in Channagiri. It should be noted that no members of Madal Virupakshappa's family were listed.

Recently, a corruption issue involving Madal Virupakshappa's family resulted in a FIR and a Lokayukta raid.

The BJP is yet to release the names of the candidates for the 12 seats, which include Hubli Dharwad Central, Krishnaraja, Shivamogga, Mahadevapura, etc.

The Karnataka assembly elections will take place on May 10 in a single phase, with the vote tallying set for May 13.