SHIVAMOGGA: “The people of Shikaripur believe in a straight fight. So, to take on the opponent in the election, we have to be on par to put up a good fight. That’s why I landed in a helicopter from Bengaluru on my way to filing the nomination in Shikaripura on Saturday”, claims Vinay K C Rajavat, an independent candidate who is taking on BJP’s chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa in Shikaripura assembly constituency. Vinay hogged the limelight when he arrived by helicopter from Bengaluru to file his nomination.
Vinay told Express, “Besides taking on an opponent of equal stature, friends too wished that I file my papers the way my opponent did.”
Vinay will start his election campaigning from the border village Attibailu in Shikaripura on Sunday. He says friends and supporters, from different communities and castes, will help him in the campaigning. “There is a sizeable number of Lambani community voters in Shikaripur and I hope to get good support from my community,” he said.
Speaking about the expenses incurred on the helicopter ride from Bengaluru to Shikaripur, Vinay said about Rs 20,000 was remitted to police department, fire brigade and PWD. “Apart from this, the charter fare for the chopper ride was paid to Thumbay Aviation by my friends”, he said. “My leadership is not just for the upcoming elections, but for the future of the state”, he claimed.
Vinay Rajavat belongs to the Lambani community and hails from the tiny village Kunchenahalli tanda in Shivamogga taluk. His father Chandra Naik works in the police department and mother Prema is a homemaker. He did his primary education in Shivamogga and Anavatti, high school at Banasiri school and PUC at Kumudvathi College in Shikaripura. When he was pursuing his BSc course at Sahyadri Science College in Shivamogga, he got an opportunity to work as a student union leader in 2013 and has bagged Best Leadership and All Rounder awards.
Passionate about acting, Vinay is acting as a hero in the Kannada movie ‘Ramadurga’. For a living, he cultivates maize in about five acres in Kunchenahalli village.