KEY PLAYERS

Siddaramaiah: The current chief minister has presented a record 13 budgets and has held official government positions since 1982. Siddaramaiah (69), who hails from the influential pastoral Kuruba caste, has attempted to craft a more inclusive image for himself as a leader of the AHINDA (an acronym for minority communities, backward classes and Dalits) and has launched a slew of welfare measures, which he claims have reached over 90% of the population

BS Yeddyurappa: The 75-year-old Lingayat leader is credited with having built the BJP into a force in the state, helping it form its first government in south India in 2008. However, allegations of corruption followed and he was even sent to custody in 2011. After breaking away from the party in 2013 and ensuring a humiliating defeat for it, Yeddyurappa was brought back into the fold and named the party's CM face. However, his hold in the party has waned since

HD Kumaraswamy: The younger son and political heir of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy (58) was the CM for a brief period between 2006 and 2008 when the JD(S) was in an alliance with the BJP. Hailing from the dominant Vokkaliga caste, Kumaraswamy has said he is the only one capable of providing a stable leadership in the state

G Parameshwara: The state Congress chief and senior Dalit leader lost out on the chief minister's post because he lost from his constituency of Koratagere. Since then, he and Siddaramaiah have been entrusted by the high command to ensure a Congress victory in the state. However, differences between the two have simmered over the past five years.

HD Deve Gowda : The most influential leader of the dominant Vokkaliga caste, Gowda is reputed to be an astute political manager. While he no longer contests assembly elections in the state, he is still considered a force to reckon with in the state