Karnataka polls: Prominent Lingayat leaders Jagdish Shettar, Mahesh Tenginkai to battle it out in Hubbali-Dharwad

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 17 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday exuded confidence that the newly fielded candidate Mahesh Tenjinakai will win the Karnataka Assembly polls with a margin of 50,000 votes.
Senior BJP leaders CT Narayan Swamy and others in an interview with ANI said, "We have full confidence that Mahesh Tenjinakai will win the election with 50,000 lead. He is young, confident and has vast knowledge."
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released the third list of 10 candidates for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections and announced the candidate from Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly constituency from which Jagadish Shettar had earlier been elected.
The BJP released the list of 10 candidates out of the remaining 12 in the 224-seated Karnataka Assembly.
State General Secretary Mahesh Tenjinakai has been chosen to contest the election from Hubbali-Dharwad Central Assembly constituency which was previously held by Shettar. He will contest against former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, the Congress nominee. The battle in Hubbali has become more interesting as two prominent Lingayat leaders will give a tough fight to each other.
Mahesh Tenginkai is a prominent leader of the Lingayat community, who has a stronghold in the Hubli-Dharwad region. He has been associated with the BJP for over two decades and has held various positions in the party organisation. He is also a successful businessman and a social worker.
The contest between Tenginkai and Shettar is expected to be a close one, as both are popular leaders of the Lingayat community and have strong organisational backing.
In the list of 10 candidates declared by BJP on Monday, the BJP dropped its veteran Arvind Limbavali from Mahadevapura but has given a ticket to his wife Manula Aravind Limbavali, who has been an MLA from this seat since 2008.
The party released the first list of 189 candidates followed by the list of 23 candidates in the second list.
The 224-seat Assembly polls are slated to take place in a single phase on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13. (ANI)