The Karnataka Congress on Sunday released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. With no surprises in store, the party has offered tickets to sitting MPs. The party has announced candidates for 18 out of 20 Lok Sabha seats it will contest in Karnataka, renominating nine incumbents along with some fresh faces.

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The party did not name candidates for Bengaluru South and Dharwad parliamentary seats, amid concerns that the party lacked a strong contender in this BJP bastion. The party has offered the Dakshina Kannada ticket to Mithun Rai, Youth Congress President of Dakshina Kannada, overlooking senior leaders like Ramanath Rai and Vinay Kumar Sorake.  Congress sources say that the party is waiting for the BJP to announce its candidate from Bengaluru South before making a decision. 

Only two sitting members of the Karnataka Assembly have been given the Lok Sabha ticket - Eshwar Khandre (Bidar) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davangere). The only Muslim candidate in the list is Rizwan Arshad for Bangalore Central.  

Here is a first list of candidates:

Chikkodi - Prakash Hukkeri

Belagavi - Virupakshi Sadhunnavar

Bagalkot - Veena Kashappanavar

Kalaburgi - Mallikarjun Kharge

Davangere - Shamnur Shivashankarappa

Raichur - BV Naik

Bidar - Eshwar Khandre

Ballari - VS Ugrappa

Haveri - DR  Patil

Dakshina Kannada - Mithun Rai

Chitradurga - BN Chandrappa

Mysuru-Kodagu - CH Vijayshankar

Bengaluru Rural - DK Suresh

Bengaluru Central - Rizwan Arshad

Kolar - KH Muniyappa

Chamarajanagar - R Dhruvanarayana

Chikkaballapura - Veerappa Moily

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