Karnataka bypolls: BJP announces candidates for RR Nagar, Shira

BJP, on October 13, has finalized its candidates for the Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Shira assembly constituencies by-election. Muniratna will contest from RR Nagar and son of former Member of Parliament CP Moodalagiriappa’s son Dr Rajesh Gowda will contest from Shira.

Bengaluru: The BJP on Tuesday has announced its candidates for the by-election to the Shira and Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) assembly constituencies.

Former MLA Munirathna will contest from RR Nagar in Bengaluru while Dr Rajesh Gowda, a radiologist, will stand from Shira in Tumakuru district.

Both Assembly segments will go for bypolls on November 3. The last date to submit the nominations is October 16.

The bypoll in Shira was necessitated following the death of JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana in August this year, while the RR Nagar seat fell vacant after the disqualification of the-then Congress MLA N Munirathna under the anti-defection law last year.

Munirathna, who is also a film producer, won the RR Nagar seat twice in 2013 and 2018 from Congress.

In the 2018 elections, Munirathna polled 1.08 lakh votes, followed by around 82,000 by BJP’s Muniraju Gowda and over 60,000 by JD(S) candidate GH Ramachandra.

The BJP had promised Munirathna candidature from the seat for his role in staying away from the Assembly with 16 other former Congress-JD(S) MLAs, leading to the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka.