Karnataka election 2023: We don’t want even a single Muslim vote, says BJP's Eshwarappa

Eshwarappa's raked up many controversies earlier, including his alleged role in the suicide of a contrator, and several instances of hate speech. In March, he stirred up a controversy over the Azan row. The former Karnataka minister had made the remark as the prayer call “disturbed” his speech at a public rally in Mangaluru’s Kavoor.

Speaking as part of the Vijay Sankalp Yatra last month, Eshwarappa was quopted by News 18 as saying, "...Can Allah only hear if you shout using a microphone? Even we Hindus do puja, women perform bhajans, but if Allah can hear (their prayers) only if a microphone is used means we have to call him deaf".

Eshwarappa was an MLA from Shivamogga. This time, The BJP has fieled Channabasappa, an active RSS member and four-time corporator, for Shivamogga, denying a place to sitting MLA and senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa's family.