While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced, on 16 March, its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to contest from Varanasi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal stated the party will decide a right candidate soon, to take on Modi in the Indian spiritual city.  

Kejriwal was addressing a roadshow in Chikkaballapur, about 50km from Bangalore. "This time there is an alternative to BJP and Congress and that is AAP, so I urge everyone to vote for our party," IBNLive quoted him. Media reports claim that AAP executive members were pursuing Kejriwal to contest against Modi.  

A key Congress leader in Karnataka is former Railway Minister CK Jaffer Sharief, who has not been allotted a ticket by his party yet. He is speculated to contest on a JD(S) ticket from Mysore. However, Sharief is to make a decision once he returns from his Mecca pilgrimage on 23 March. Sharief, the octogenerian, has met JD(S) chief and former prime minister Deve Gowda, and expressed his leanings towards Gowda's party, citing their secular credentials. 

Though the Congress has appointed two chiefs to Pradesh Congress Committees of the two regions of Andhra Pradesh - Telangana and Seemandhra, it has failed to clinch an alliance with Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has ruled out any electoral alliance with Congress and stated that TRS would contest the state assembly and general election alone.

Some of the Congress leaders have already joined TRS. In Seemandhra too, the Congress' situation has turned much worse. Congress leaders from Seemandhra have begun to look for greener pastures to win the elections. Some of them, including some ministers and MLAs, have already joined TDP. 

Tollywood hero Pawan Kalyan has stated that his new party Jana Sena will consider alliance with any non-Congress party in the state. Pawan is expected to come out with his election strategy shortly. Pawan has given feelers of having electoral tuck with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and BJP. To take on YS Jaganmohan Reddy-headed YSR Congress party, TDP is likely to take on poll alliance with Pawan's Jana Sena.

BJP's national leader Venkaiah Naidu has stated that he will respond soon to Pawan's comments on him (Naidu) and the party.