MYSURU: If bypolls to Nanjangud and Gundlupet have become a matter of prestige for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, it seems to have turned into a training ground for his son Yathindra.
Yathindra, a doctor, who has kept away from active politics, has become a prominent campaigner for the Congress as his father is busy with the Assembly session. The recently concluded APMC and bypolls have turned out to be an acid test for Yathindra as he wanted to reach out to people in the constituency.
As the day started around 8 am, Yathindra with a few local leaders entered the villages of Nanjangud and silently campaigned till evening. He made it a point to list out the welfare and development programmes launched by his father and also the previous Union government headed by Manmohan Singh in front of people.
Interacting with Express, Yathindra said politics was a difficult assignment as it needs both love and faith of people. “I initially struggled to cope with the new assignment as I was new to the field. My patience and dedication to hear out their grievances made me win their hearts. I took their grievances to my father and got it solved,” he said.
Clarifying that he has not made up his mind to contest polls in 2018, he said the greater responsibility is to win the bypolls and retain Nanjangud and Gundlupet. He said his mother and father were in deep shock after the sudden demise of his brother Rakesh.
“My mother (Parvathi) had greater confidence that Rakesh would make big in politics. Though my father advised me against getting into politics that has seen degeneration of values, I entered it because of my mother’s ambition and assist the people of Varuna constituency. My entry into politics has made my parents recover from the shock. I will decide on contesting polls according to the wishes of my parents,” he said.