As Karnataka polls on May 12, here are the top ten constituencies to watch out for

Karnataka polls on May 12 and it would be a battle royale. There would be some key constituencies that you could look out for where the battle promises to be interesting. Here are the ten constituencies that you must watch out for.

Chamundeshwari: The constituency is currently held by JD(S) MLA, G T Deve Gowda and he is up against the Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah.He has won the seat from here several times in the past, but shifted to Varuna owing to delimitation.

Shikaripura: Out of the 8 elections that B S Yeddyurappa has contested from this constituency, he has lost just once. This has been his constituency since 1983. In the 2013 election, Yeddyurappa had won this seat by a margin of 24,000 votes on a KJP ticket.

Ramanagaram: The chief ministerial candidate of the JD(S), H D Kumaraswamy holds this seat. In the 2013 elections, he had won comfortably by a margin of over 25,000 votes. This is a stronghold of the JD(S). Kumaraswamy is contesting from the Channapatna seat as well.

Varuna: Held by Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, this was a constituency carved out of Chamundeshwari due to delimitation. Siddaramaiah has won 7 out of the 7 elections he has contested from here. This time he has made way for his son, Dr. Yathindra who would be contesting this seat.

Ballari city: The mining capital will witness a keenly contested battle. This seat is held by Anil Lad of the Congress. The 2008 battle here was won by Gali Somashekara Reddy of the BJP.

Bantwal: The battle in the coast would be an interesting one. The BJP would be looking to seize the initiative here. The Bantwal seat is currently held by B Ramanatha Rai of the Congress. He won the seat by a comfortable margin of 17,850 votes in 2013. This year he may find it tougher as the BJP is going all guns blazing here.

Nanjangud: This constituency witnessed a high-profile battle in the by-election held in 2017. By-polls were necessitated following the resignation of Dalit leader, V Srinivasa Prasad from the Congress. He contested on a BJP ticket, but lost to Kalale Keshavamurthy of the Congress.

Hebbal: Hebbal held by Y Narayanaswamy of the BJP would be a high-stake battle. By-elections were held here in 2016 following the death of R Jagadeesh Kumar of the BJP. In the run up to the elections, the Congress witnessed some infighting as Siddaramaiah wanted to give a ticket to Independent MLA Byrathi Suresh. The ticket finally went to Abdul Rahman Sharief, grandson of Jaffer Sharief.

Bidar: This constituency would witness an interesting fight. It was here that the demand for a separate religion for Lingayats took birth when members of the community converged in large numbers. The seat was won by Gurupadappa Nagmarpalli in 2013 on a KJP ticket. However his death in 2016 led to a by-election which was won by Rahim Khan of the Congress.

Badami: This is a high-stake battle. Siddaramaiah had chosen this as a safe seat. The BJP however decided to make the battle tougher for the CM, by fielding one of its strongest candidates, Sriramulu who is also contesting from Molakmuru.