Yeddyurappa files nomination papers from Shikaripura

Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa, his senior colleague K S Eshwarappa and prominent Congress leader D K Shivakumar were among those who filed nominations today for the May 12 assembly polls in the state. Yeddyurappa, projected as the party's chief ministerial candidate, filed the papers from his traditional Shikaripura constituency in Shivamogga district in the presence of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Union ministers Ananth Kumar and Ramesh Jigajinagi. Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said a total of 155 nominations were filed in two days since the process began on April 17. Yesterday was a public holiday on account of 'Basava Jayanti.' He also said duration of polling would be extended by an hour following requests from citizens. It would take place between 7am and 6 pm, an official release, quoting the CEO, said. Kumar said based on a request from citizens citing the summer heat as reason, a decision has been taken to extend duration of polling by an hour till six pm instead of the earlier"time of five pm. The process of filing of nominations gathered pace today. Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council Eshwarappa filed his papers from Shivamogga in the presence of former chief minister Jagadish Shettar. A Kuruba leader, Eshwarappa, who has served as BJP state president in the past, had last year led a battle against Yeddyuappa's "unilateral" style of functioning by leading 'Rayanna Brigade', an "apolitical forum" of Dalits and backward classes. The BJP central leadership had stepped in and brought about a rapprochement between the two squabbling leaders. Eshwarappa had lost the 2013 assembly election. From the Congress's side, Power Minister and strong Vokkaliga leader D K Shivakumar filed his nomination from Kanakapura. The I-T department had on August 2 last year conducted searches at various properties linked to Shivakumar, who had hosted 44 Gujarat Congress MLAs at a resort to forestall alleged attempts by the BJP to poach them ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls there. BJP leader and former deputy chief minister R Ashoka from Padmanabhanagar, Environment minister Ramanath Rai from Bantwal and former chief minister Bangarappa's son and JD(S) sitting MLA Madhu Bangarappa from Soraba are among those who filed their nominations today. The last date for filing of nominations is April 24.