Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command, which has been a staunch opposer of dynasty politics, has given several of its party tickets to candidates with political family backgrounds for the upcoming Assembly Elections in Karnataka. Out of the 189 candidates announced by the party, more than 24 have a political background. Candidates who are blood-related, like father-son, husband-wife, brother-sister, mother-in-law and son-in-law have been given tickets to contest the elections.
Former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra has been given a ticket by the party to contest in Shikaripur. Yeddyurappa retired from electoral politics after serving as Chief Minister. His brother B Y Raghavendra is a Lok Sabha member representing the Shimoga constituency.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also comes from a family with a political background. Bommai represented the Shiggavi Constituency, and his father S. R. Bommai was the Chief Minister in the Janata Party government and also served as Central Human Resource Development Minister.
The BJP high command has given a ticket to Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani to contest. His brother Hanumanta Nirani is a member of the Vidhan Parishad from the BJP. The party has given a ticket to Arvind Bellada in Hubballi-Dharwad West Constituency, whose father Chandrakanta Bellada was an MLA of the BJP five times.
In Bellary district, Transport Minister Sreeramulu has also been given a ticket. His sister Shanta was earlier a BJP Lok Sabha member from the Bellary constituency, while his blood relatives Devendrappa and Fakirappa are members of the Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, Sreeramulu's son-in-law Suresh Babu was elected as MLA from the Kampli constituency.
BJP has given a ticket to former minister Janardhana Reddy's brother Somashekhar Reddy. Not only that, Karunakara Reddy, another brother of Somashekhar Reddy, is a sitting BJP MLA representing the Harpanahalli constituency. The BJP has also given a ticket to Minister Anand Singh's son Siddharth Singh, who announced that he did not want a ticket in the Vijayanagar constituency. Senior leader GH Tippareddy, whose brother GH Aswath Reddy was an MLA and former minister, was given the ticket in Chitradurga.
MLA Jyoti Ganesh has been given a ticket in Tumkur, whose father GS Basavaraj is a BJP Lok Sabha member from the Tumkur constituency. Saptagiri Gowda, son of senior BJP leader and former minister Ramachandra Gowda, got a ticket in Bangalore's Gandhinagar. In Nanjangud, BJP MLA Harshvardhan has been given a ticket by the party, who is the son-in-law of Srinivas Prasad, BJP Lok Sabha member from the Chamarajanagar constituency was also a former Union Minister. For the Hanur Constituency of Chamarajanagar District, Pritam Gowda got the ticket, the son of former minister Nagappa and former MLA Parimala Nagappa, got the ticket. Sudha Sivaram Gowda, daughter of KH Ramakrishnaiah (who was a two-time MLA from the Turuvekere constituency), is currently the BJP candidate for Nagamangala.
In the Belgaum district, the BJP high command has also given tickets to candidates with family backgrounds in six constituencies. Two of these six people are former minister Umesh Katti's brother and son, who were given tickets after Katti pressured them to do so.
