The Congress on Sunday decided against fielding lawyer HS Chandramouli from Madikeri because of his alleged links with fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi. Chandramouli had represented Choksi in a few cases, PTI reported. KP Chandrakala will now contest the elections on the Congress ticket.

The party also replaced its candidates in Jagalur, a seat reserved for candidates from Scheduled Tribe communities, Tiptur, Malleshwaram, Padmanaba Nagar, News 18 reported. It announced the candidates for Sindgi, Nagathan, Kittur, Raichur, and Shanthinagara. In Mandya district’s Melukote seat, it will support Swaraj India candidate Darshan Puttanaiah.

#KarnatakaElection2018 final list of candidates! @siddaramaiah candidature in #Badami will make @INCKarnataka stronger in North #Karnataka ! Many aspiring friends couldn’t get opportunities but let’s all work to #KarnatakaDefeatsBJP ! Let’s win 130+ seats 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/60hxLSrKxA — manickam tagore (@manickamtagore) April 22, 2018

The party gave a ticket to NA Haris, the incumbent MLA in Bengaluru’s Shanthinagara constituency whose son is in judicial custody in connection with an assault case. On Saturday night, the party announced that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would contest the May 12 elections from two Badami in North Karnataka, apart from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru district.

The Assembly elections for Karnataka’s 224 constituencies will be held on May 12, and the votes will be counted on May 15. These elections are key because Karnataka is the only major state left under the Congress’ rule, and its results are expected to set the tone for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.