Bengaluru: On Saturday night, when the Congress released its first list of candidates for Karnataka, former minister S S Mallikarjun was named as the party candidate from the Davanagere Lok Sabha constituency. But, within 12 hours, he was replaced with his father Shamanuru Shivashankarappa as the party’s choice of candidate. In Bengaluru South, the party nominated B K Hariprasad, another veteran leader.

While speaking to reporters in Davanagere, Shamanuru Shivashankarappa openly expressed his displeasure over the party’s decision to nominate him as a candidate. “I was removed from the state cabinet because I am too old. Now, I am being asked to contest in the Lok Sabha election,” he said.

According to sources in the Congress, Shivashankarappa is contesting for the Lok Sabha after a gap of 20 years. “He last contested in the Lok Sabha elections in the year 1999. After losing to the BJP in 1999, the Congress never won from this constituency,” said a Congress leader.

In Bengaluru South, B K Hariprasad has been named as the Congress’ candidate. He is likely to face either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Tejaswini Anant Kumar.