While the party has justified described its first list as a "socially equitable distribution of tickets", influential leaders who were dropped or snubbed are threatening to contest against it.
Party includes 52 new faces in first list of 189 candidates, leaving out a former chief minister, two former deputy chief ministers and an incumbent minister
In a strategic move, the BJP has allowed senior leaders R Ashoka and V Somanna, to contest against Congress stalwarts D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah in Kanakapura and Varuna, respectively.
On Tuesday night, after several back-to-back meetings for five days, the BJP released its first list of 189 candidates for next month's Karnataka assembly election.