Karnataka election: One candidate, two seats, it all began with Deve Gowda

The Election Commission of India has told the Supreme Court that it is opposed to the idea of candidates contesting from two seats. It said that a few months after the election, the candidate forfeits one seat as a result of which a by-poll needs to hold and this adds to the burden of the exchequer.

This has however not deterred the candidates from Karnataka to contest on two seats. This also could be the last election in which such a practise is followed. This would, however, depend on whether the Supreme Court accepts the recommendations of the EC.

In poll-bound Karnataka, the first to announce that he would be contesting from two seats was H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S). He would be contesting from Ramanagara, the constituency he represents and Channapatana which is also a stronghold of the JD(S).

The other names doing the rounds are that of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress chief, Dr. G Parameshwar. While it is not yet confirmed whether they would contest from two seats or not, there are reports doing the rounds that they have sought two tickets.

In the case of Siddaramaiah, the likelihood is that he would contest from Badami and Chamundeshwari. The decision to contest from two seats was taken after reports suggested that Chamundeshwari was not a safe seat. The high command too advised him to take both options or just stick to Badami where is victory is certain owing to high Kuruba voters.

Dr Parameshwar too is said to be in the race for two seats. He was contemplating a safe seat other than Koratagere from where he had lost in 2013. However, in all probability, he may just stick to the Koratagere seat as he has sensed that he is in with a chance this time.

When it all began:

H D Deve Gowda contested from Holenarasipur and erstwhile Sathanur in Kanakapur in 1985. He won both the seats.

In 1989 Gowda contested from the same two seats. He lost Holenarasipur to Putteswamy Gowda and Kanakpur to P G R Sindhia.

In 2004, Gowda contested Kanakapur and Hassan. He won from Hassan but lost to Tejaswini Gowda in Kanakapur.

In 1999 Sonia Gandhi contested from the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency. Her second contest was from Raebareli. She won both seats but retained Raebareli.