Anitha Kumaraswamy was busy packing for a weekend holiday in Ooty when her father-in-law, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda called her and asked her to file nomination papers for the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha bylection.
She initially refused. But when Gowda explained the importance of retaining the seat and taking on the Congress, Anitha is said to have agreed to enter the fray. She is set to file her papers at Ramanagaram DC's office on Saturday.
For the last two days there has been pressure on her to contest the byelection, particularly after the Congress decided to field D K Suresh, brother of former minister D K Shivakumar.
Sources close to her said: "She is yet to recover from the shock defeat in Chennapatna against former minister C P Yogeshwar. She didn't want to take another plunge into the electoral arena."
Her husband, former CM H D Kumaraswamy failed to convince her forcing the family patriarch's intervention. In a show of solidarity, former deputy CM R Ashoka and Bangalore South BJP MLA M Sreenivas met Kumaraswamy at the latter's residence over breakfast and extended support to Anitha. Another former minister in Jagadish Shettar government, A Narayanaswamy, who lost the Assembly polls against the Congress, also spoke to Kumaraswamy and assured his support, sources said.
Yogeshwar, who defeated Anitha in the Assembly polls as a Samajwadi Party candidate, is also said to have spoken to Kumaraswamy on an electoral understanding. His intent is to defeat his bitter rival D K Shivakumar's brother Suresh. Yogeshwar was denied a Congress ticket allegedly due to Shivakumar's intervention.
The Congress, meanwhile, is still fumbling around for a candidate for the Mandya Lok Sabha seat, as the attempt to persuade octogenarian G Made Gowda failed. The veteran leader declined the offer made by Housing Minister M H Ambareesh on health grounds. Even CM Siddaramaiah's telephonic talk failed to change the situation. It appears that the Congress may be forced to field a political lightweight, former MLA L R Shivarame Gowda from Mandya or MLA Suresh Gowda from Nagamangala. The party is yet to finalise the candidate and a dark horse is not ruled out. Former CM S M Krishna, told reporters in Mandya that he had no role in selecting candidates.