BENGALURU: With 16 legislative council seats falling vacant in May-June, former MLAs H Vishwanath, MTB Nagaraj, R Shankar, who helped prop up the BS Yediyurappa government, have emerged frontrunners from the BJP.
Former MLC Go Madhusudhan, former MLAs Nirmal Surana and CP Yogeshwara, and CM BS Yediyurappa’s second son BY Vijayendra are also in the running. The Congress is preparing its own list with the new KPCC president and CLP leader taking time to decide; ditto with the JDS.
Of the 16 seats, five are nominations which will go to the BJP, seven are elected by the Assembly and four are elected from Graduate and Teachers constituencies. The BJP is committed to accommodating three former MLAs who defected to the party -- Adagur Vishwanath (Hunsur - JDS), MTB Nagaraj (Hoskote - Congress) who lost the assembly elections, and R Shankar, who did not contest from Ranebennur. Besides Madhusudhan, the name of Nirmal Kumar Surana is doing the rounds as a favourite, considering he is close to the Nalin Kateel camp.
Yogeshwara, considered the Vokkaliga counter to DK Shivakumar, and who played a key role in setting up the BJP government, is also a frontrunner. Vijayendra, who had hoped to contest from Varuna, is also in the race. His work for the State’s fight against Covid through his fans’ association has caught the attention of party leaders, as have his efforts to shore up support during the anti-CAA protests. Hectic lobbying is on by many others in the BJP.