BENGALURU: Confirming what was in the air as to why Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar’s younger brother DK Suresh refrained from contesting the Channapatna bypoll, Vokkaliga leaders within Congress have started projecting Shivakumar as the next chief minister.
This is being interpreted as a strategy to grab most of the Vokkaliga votes for Congress candidate CP Yogeshwara in Channapatna, by sending out a message that Shivakumar is the only leader from the community who is capable of acquiring the top post.
“We should make our son of the district as chief minister and if Yogeshwara wins the Channapatna bypoll, we can make Shivakumar CM this term itself,” said former MLA MC Ashwath at the coordination committee meeting held at Tittamaranahalli village in Channapatna on Saturday.
Earlier, Shivakumar had appealed to Channapatna voters to consider him as the candidate and vote for anyone the party picks to contest the election. Suresh too has taken the same line to win over voters. “As Shivakumar said earlier, the election is being held in his name, no matter who is contesting.Though Yogeshwara is the candidate, the party is seeking votes in Shivakumar’s name,” Suresh said. He said Yogeshwara has played his role in making many leaders chief ministers. “But as his political future was in jeopardy, he consulted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and joined us,” he added.
The DK brothers, who have shouldered the responsibility of ensuring Yogeshwara’s victory, have been holding a series of meetings with party workers and community members overnight to mobilise them.
A few days before joining Congress, Yogeshwara had also said Shivakumar is just a step away from becoming chief minister and will not contest the Channapatna bypoll.
Foreseeing such a development to win over Vokkaliga voters, Union minister and JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy, who is a prominent Vokkaliga leader, had made a preemptive statement a few days ago in Mysuru, saying the Congress government will collapse before 2028 and he will become chief minister for the third time. His son and NDA candidate Nikhil too had said the people of the state wish Kumarswamy becomes CM again.
I told HDK to ally with BJP: Yogeshwara
Congress candidate for the November 13 bypolls from Channapatna, CP Yogeshwara, on Saturday, claimed that he had suggested to Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy to forge an alliance with the BJP and revive the JDS. “I only instilled the idea in Kumaraswamy to ally with the BJP in order to revive the JDS. I spoke to DyCM and KPCC president DK Shivakumar on the bypolls only on the day I joined the Congress,” Yogeshwara said while addressing a Congress workers’ meeting at Channapatna.
He was replying to Kumaraswamy, who had alleged that Yogeshwara was in touch with the Congress leaders for a couple of months before joining the party.