Karnataka sets poll ball rolling

While the notification is in place, the process of filing nominations— open till April 23—began with a trickle. Among the main contenders, the BJP has put in place its choice of candidates for most of the 89 constituencies in the first phase and is expected to put in place an official election manifesto by the weekend.

The Congress has put out a draft of its seven-point populist manifesto in a pre-emptive move to the BJP but is still in the process of finalising the list of candidates from among over 2,800 aspirants for the entire 224 assembly constituencies.

The Janata Dal-Secular, hovering at the periphery of contention and threatening to be a key player once again in future government formation, is playing the waiting game with respect to both candidates and the manifesto.

Several of the districts going to the polls in the first phase in particular are considered a traditional JD(S) stronghold—former Prime Minister H.D. Devegowda is the patriarch of the dominant Vokkaliga community here.

Of the 25 seats in the 2004 polls in the Tumkur, Kolar and Chikaballapur region—all among the 11 districts going to polls in the first phase—the JD(S) won 10 seats, the Congress seven and the BJP four.

In the Bangalore Rural, Ramanagar, Mandya, Hassan, Mysore and Chamarajnagar regions, out of 48 seats that were contested last time the JD(S) won 26, the Congress 12 and the BJP eight.

The BJP held sway over the Kodagu district winning two of the three seats while the Congress held sway over the Bangalore urban district, winning 10 of the 16 constituencies while the BJP grabbed six.

This time around, there are 28 seats at stake in the re-constituted Bangalore urban region giving the district unprecedented primacy. The region is expected to once again feature a straight fight between the Congress and the BJP, with the Congress holding a slight upper hand with the return of former chief minister S.M. Krishna.

While the Congress is hoping to turn the current in other old Mysore districts through its central loan waiver scheme and populist measures like subsidized rice and free television sets, Krishna is also seen as being a crucial counterfoil to Devegowda’s sway over the Vokkaliga community in other parts of Old Mysore.