With the Karnataka Election dates announced, the BJP and Congress are working to release the list of candidates for all 224 assembly seats. The BJP is in no mood to field weaker candidates on any seat and thus taking a bit longer to zero in on the final list. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today said BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa along with the Parliamentary Board will take a call on fielding the latter's son B Y Vijayendra from Varuna constituency, from where Congress leader Siddaramaiah is slated to contest. Bommai's statement came a day after Yediyurappa, a former CM, did not rule out the possibility of Vijayendra taking on Siddaramaiah in Varuna in Mysuru district in the May 10 Assembly elections.


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"As our senior leader B S Yediyurappa has said we (BJP) will give a tough fight (in Varuna) and he has wished to field Vijayendra, which is also the desire of the people of that area. The final decision will be taken by Yediyurappa as well as the BJP Parliamentary Board," Bommai told reporters outside Ghati Subrahmanya Temple near here.


The process of preparing a list of candidates has started and it will be released soon. BJP will get a clear majority in the state: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai


Bommai also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will get a clear majority in the upcoming Assembly elections. The chief minister was speaking to the media at the Ghati temple in Doddaballapur taluk of Bengaluru Rural district today. CM Bommai said, "A lot of poll surveys have been done and it shows the rivalry. Not in favour of Congress. There is still a month and a half to the elections and many changes are being seen."


Talking about the upcoming elections, the CM said, "The process of preparing the list has started and it will be released in another week."


Talking about the meeting of opinion gathering of potential candidates, he said, "The opinion of the office bearers at the grassroots level is being collected, and it will be submitted to the Parliamentary Board after consultation at the district and taluk level."


Targeting the leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah, the CM said, "Siddaramaiah is desperate. The last election was in 2013. Contested again in 2018 and now is dreaming again. It is not important that a person becomes the Chief Minister."


"What he can do for the people of the state as Chief Minister is important. People rejected him in 2018 and will reject him this time too...He could have done this in response to opposition parties` claims that reservation was an election gimmick. This is a 30-year demand. He did not go on this adventure because of a lack of commitment. People are seen as vote banks. We have done the impossible for them. Thus, he has started a turmoil and he will do politics at all costs," Bommai further remarked.


The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly elections. The polling would take place in a single phase on May 10, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday.The counting of votes will be done on May 13, the CEC said in a press conference here. Detailing the data of the electors, the CEC said that there are a total of 5.21 crores in the state and the number of 100 plus voters is 16,976.He informed that over 58,000 polling stations would be set up across the state. (With PTI/ANI inputs)