BENGALURU: The suspense over two of the three seats facing the bypolls on November 13 ended with BJP on Saturday declaring former chief minister and Haveri MP Basavaraj Bommai’s son Bharat Bommai as its candidate for Shiggaon and Bangara Hanumanta for Sandur (ST reserved seat).
The Channapatna imbroglio over selecting a consensus candidate from NDA continued. Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy is likely to take a final decision whether to field his son Nikhil or sacrifice the seat to BJP MLC CP Yogeshwar. The discussions are underway to field a consensus candidate to take on the might of DCM DK Shivakumar and his younger brother DK Suresh.
For Bharat, the Shiggaon bypoll will mark his debut into electoral politics. Shiggaon fell vacant after his father Basavaraj Bommai won the Haveri Lok Sabha seat. Though Basavaraj Bommai had claimed just a few days ago that he was not pushing his son’s candidature, he managed to strike a deal with the high command. Bommai met BJP parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa and took him into confidence, sources said.
Former minister Murugesh Nirani, who had lobbied for the seat and hails from Bagalkot, had apprehension over migrating to Shiggaon.
Bharath, a 35-year-old MBA graduate from Singapore Management University, has done his BS in Engineering at Purdue University. He is a successful entrepreneur.
The Sandur candidate, Bangara Hanumanta, had been denied a ticket by the party on earlier occasions. But his selection may have made some members of BJP, like Gangavathy MLA Gali Janardhana Reddy, unhappy. Reddy had landed at Sandur, expecting his loyalist KS Divakar to get the BJP ticket.
It remains to be seen whether he will work promptly for Bangara. The seat fell vacant after Tukaram went on to become Ballari MP. Now, Bangara is likely to take on Tukaram’s wife E Annapoorna who is most likely to be the Congress candidate. Tukaram’s daughter Souparnika’s name too is making rounds.
Bharat joins league of ex-CMs’ children
Bharat Bommai has joined the league of former chief ministers’ sons making electoral debut. Former CM BS Yediyurappa’s sons B Y Vijayendra, who is state BJP chief, and BY Raghavendra, Shivamogga MP, had tasted success on their debut. But former CM HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil faced back-to-back defeats.
HDK has surrenders Ch’patna to BJP, says DKS
As the mindgame among three political parties over the selection of candidates for the Channapatna bypoll continues, DCM DK Shivakumar on Saturday said he got information that HD Kumaraswamy could sacrifice the seat to BJP.
“But I cannot authenticate the veracity of news,” he said after meeting Channapatna Congress leaders.