Yeddyurappa announces first list of 69 candidates for May 5 polls

Bangalore, Mar 21 : Jumping the gun first, former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today announced the first list of 69 candidates the fledgling Karnataka Janatha Paksha (KJP) would be fielding in the May 5 Assembly elections.

Talking to newpersons here, Mr Yeddyurappa said the party would field candidates in all the 224 constituencies and it would not have truck with any other political party. However, he said he was having negotiations with pro Kannada, farmers, dalits and minorities organisations and those organisations who were fighting for the rights of land and water of the state to accommodate their supporters.

He said the KJP Election Committee would meet again on March 27 to finalise the next list of candidates.

Mr Yeddyurappa would be seeking re-election from Shikaripur and others who had been named in the first list included Former Ministers C M Udasi (Hangal), Ms Shobha Karandlje (Rajajinagar) and Hartal Halappa (Sorab).

Asked if he was expecting some more ministers and MLAs from the BJP joining him, he said wait and watch for a couple of days.