Sons of three former Karnataka CMs to battle it out for Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat

Retaining the home turf could prove a tough challenge for Yeddyurappa and his son Raghavendra with the entry of Madhu Bangarappa as the joint candidate of JD(S) and Congress.
Image for representational purpose. (File | PTI)
Image for representational purpose. (File | PTI)

BENGALURU: Raising the stakes in the by-election to Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat scheduled on November 3, JD(S) has fielded former Chief Minister S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa to take on BJP strongman B S Yeddyurappa’s son, B Y Raghavendra.

The contest for Shivamogga is panning out to be an unprecedented fight among sons of three former Chief Ministers with Mahima Patel, son of another former Chief Minister J H Patel, entering the fray as JD(U) candidate.

Retaining the home turf could prove a tough challenge for Yeddyurappa and his son Raghavendra with the entry of Madhu Bangarappa as the joint candidate of JD(S) and Congress. The coalition partners have decided to bury their differences to humble Raghavendra in his backyard and thus deliver a big blow to BJP’s confidence ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The fight will see even Congress strongman D K Shivakumar campaign for Madhu apart from Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda. 

Madhu is also set to tap the star power of Sandalwood star Shivarajkumar and his wife Geetha, who is sister of Madhu Bangarappa.

The entry of Mahima Patel is expected to add to the woes of Raghavendra as he could cause a dent in the strong Lingayat vote bank of BJP.

Madhu bullish on upsetting BSY’s calculations

Yeddyurappa had won the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat in 2014 with a huge margin of 3.60 lakh votes when Geetha Shivarajkumar too had contested as JD(S) candidate.

However, the equations have changed now as Madhu is fighting as the joint candidate of JD(S) and Congress.

Belonging to the strong Idiga community which has big presence in Shivamogga, Madhu is bullish on upsetting the calculations of Yeddyurappa by consolidating Idiga, SC, ST, Muslim and Vokkaliga community votes in favour of JD(S) and hoping for a split in BJP’s Lingayat vote bank.

Meanwhile, Congress on Monday ended the confusion on its candidate for Ballari Lok Sabha constituency by fielding MLC V S Ugrappa against J Shantha of BJP. The choice reflects the fissures among its 6 MLAs in Ballari district and also the factional fight involving senior leader D K Shivakumar, who is the Ballari district in-charge minister, and the Jarkiholi brothers — Satish and Ramesh — of Belagavi.

Ugrappa, the compromise candidate of the faction-ridden Congress in Ballari, enjoys the strong backing of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.But Ugrappa, the Nayaka community leader from Pavagada in Tumakuru district, could face strident attack as an “outsider” from BJP strongman Sriramulu.The fight for Mandya Lok Sabha seat is expected to be not as intense with the BJP yet to strike strong roots there and its candidate Dr Siddaramaiah seen as a political greenhorn against L R Shivarame Gowda of JD(S).

Anita Kumaraswamy, wife of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, could heave a sigh of relief in Ramanagara assembly constituency with Congress succeeding in quelling the revolt in its district unit. However, BJP candidate Chandrashekar Lingappa, son of rebel Congress MLC C M Lingappa, is expected to give a fight.The by-poll for Jamakhandi assembly segment too promises to be a close fight between Anand Nyamagouda of Congress and Srikanth Kulakarni of BJP.

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