Bengaluru: Recent entrant and Congress rebel law maker Umesh Jadhav will take on Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from Gulbarga as the BJP announced its list of 21 candidates for the two-phased LS polls in the state.
Two other new entrants from the Congress A. Manju, a former MLA, and his party colleague Devendrappa, both of whom joined the BJP recently, have been rewarded with tickets to contest from Hassan and Bellary, respectively.
Jadhav, a former minister, joined the BJP at a party rally in Kalaburagi on March 6, two days after he quit the Karnataka Assembly membership, at a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Jadhav, who was sulking after being dropped as minister, had on March 4 submitted his resignation from the Assembly to Speaker Ramesh Kumar.
However, Jadhav’s resignation as MLA has not yet been accepted by the Speaker, who is also yet to decide on the disqualification petitions filed by the Congress, against him.
Manju, joined BJP on Sunday, unhappy with Congress’ decision to cede Hassan seat to its coalition partner JD(S).
