Karnataka elections: Challakere Assembly constituency

Known as the oil city of Karnataka, Challakere, a city in Chitradurga draws its attention for its oil industry. The region is also known as second Mumbai as it is the second largest producer of oil in India after Mumbai.

Challakere is also home to many other industries such as dal, fried gram, rice etc. Challakere which is around 200 km from Bengaluru, is also called 'science city,' as several science and research organizations such as IISc, DRDO, BARC and ISRO have set up their establishments here ISRO is said to have conducted tests for Chandrayan-2 in its facility here.

IISc has set up a Talent Development Center (TDC) here to train the teachers and lecturers of local origin. Although many activities make the land pregnant with industries, Challakere is famous for 'Kambali,' (woven blankets), made by local kurba people. Challakere kambali are sent to various markets across India. Its weekly Sunday market has the highest turnover in the state.

In May this year, defence minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated a first of its kind, Aeronautical Test Range (ATS), in the area which will be used to test the country's first unmanned aircraft.

T Raghumurthy is the current Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing the constituency and belongs to Indian National Congress (INC).

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