The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to field a host of new faces in Karnataka for the April/May Lok Sabha election, party sources told NDTV Friday, indicating new candidates could be offered to voters in as many as 11 of the 25 seats the party currently holds.

Sources said the decision was taken after several sitting MPs expressed a desire to not contest this election. It is, however, also being seen as an attempt to ward off possible anti-incumbency, particularly in a state the party has performed well in over the past two general elections; in 2014 the BJP won 17 seats (the Congress got nine) and, in 2019, it went eight better and cornered over 51 per cent of the total votes.

Among the BJP leaders not contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha election is former Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda; the 70-year-old Bengaluru (North) MP in November said he was quitting politics.

GM Siddeswara, a four-time MP from the Davangere seat and ex-union minister, and Ramesh Jigajinagi, a six-time MP (three from Bijapur and three from Chikkodi, are also not up for re-election, sources said.

Bachhe Gowda (Chikballapur), GS Basavaraj (Tumkur), V Srinivasa Prasad (Chamarajanagar), and Y Devendrappa (Balar) may also not contest. Of all of them, the first three are over 70 years old, while Gowde is 81 years old, Basavaraj is 82, Srinivasa Prasad is 76, and Devendrappa is 72.