In 2018, veteran leader and former chief minister BS Yeddiyurappa of the BJP won the seat by defeating Malatesh of the Congress with a margin of 35,397 votes. Yeddiyurappa won eight times since 1983 from this seat.
Shikaripura constituency, which comes under Shimoga district of Karnataka, has Sudhakar Shetty from the Janata Dal (Secular) contest against GB Malatesha from the Indian National Congress (INC) and BY Vijayendra from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In 2018, veteran leader and former chief minister BS Yeddiyurappa of the BJP won the seat by defeating Malatesh of the Congress with a margin of 35,397 votes.
This year, the saffron party has fielded Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra from the constituency, which Yediyurappa senior won eight times since 1983. Meanwhile, the Congress has once again fielded GB Malatesha from the constituency. He was the runner-up in the 2018 assembly polls with as many as 51,586 votes and the voting rate was 33 per cent. While Yediyurappa won the seat by 86,983 votes with the voting rate being 56 per cent, JD(S) candidate HT Balegar managed to get 13,191 votes and secured the third-position.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate BY Raghavendra from Shimoga Lok Sabha (MP) seat beat S. Madhubangarappa of the JD(S) by a margin of 2,23360 votes.
The town, also known as the land of Shivasharanas, is famous for its Anjaneya temple having crores of saints.
Over the years, the constituency has evolved from a town into almost a city, with a district level hospital and a taluk panchayat office. The Lingayats constitute about 46,000 of the total population, and forms the single biggest caste block in the constituency, followed by 33,500 SCs, 20,000 STs, 26,000 Muslims and 14,500 Kurubas and 6,000 Idigas, who belong to the other backward castes.
Out of 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly, the winning party must have at least 113 seats from the government in Karnataka.
The Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 is currently, and the results for the high-stake polls will be declared on May 13, 2023.