BENGALURU: Toy Town Channapatna is likely to witness a fierce battle this time around, again between former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and BJP candidate and former minister CP Yogeshwar. While Kumaraswamy is aiming at returning to the chief minister’s post for the third time, and for the second time by winning the Channapatna seat, Yogeshwar, a sitting MLC, is sweating it out to regain his hold on the constituency.
A bastion of Vokkaligas, Channapatna has always been a stronghold of the JDS, though it’s significant that Yogeshwar was elected MLA from the segment five times, including in the 2011 bypoll. Starting as an independent candidate, Yogeshwar went on a party-hopping spree -- joining the Congress, BJP, SP and again the BJP.
In 2013, as SP candidate, Yogeshwar defeated Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha by a margin of 6,464 votes. With the entry of Kumaraswamy himself in 2018, Yogeshwar, contesting on a BJP ticket, lost by 21,530 votes.
Perhaps the actor-turned-politician’s overconfidence that his work of filling up lakes, which earned him the name ‘Adhunika Bhagiratha’, would help him win the polls easily, proved costly. As did rejoining the BJP, which has no strong base in the region. Before the results were out, Yogeshwar himself admitted his defeat.
This time, he is back to take on Kumaraswamy with much vigour. It was evident as he ensured that more people took part in his roadshow than Kumaraswamy, while filing nominations.
BJP’s leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would be campaigning for him to ensure Kumaraswamy’s debacle. In the clash between the two, Congress seems to be irrelevant here, as its candidates have lost deposits in the last three elections.
JDS workers appear to have firmly resolved to re-elect Kumaraswamy, even as Yogeshwar managed to pull some of the party’s rank and file into the BJP’s fold. He is also trying to win the seat by playing the local versus outsider card, as he is a native of Channapatna while Kumaraswamy has his roots in Hassan.
The constituency is dominated by Vokkaligas, who form about 40 per cent of the 2,30,327 voters, while there are around 30,000 Muslim votes. The voting pattern reveals that the minority community has not favoured Yogeshwar, which can be a setback for him this time too.
The JDS camp is confident that even if Kumaraswamy manages to get 50 per cent of the Vokkaliga votes, he will easily sail through with the help of minorities and other communities.
The voters here seem to be looking at the larger picture, as the JDS could play the role of ‘kingmaker’ this time too, and Kumaraswamy could become CM in case a fractured mandate puts him in an advantageous position. Admitting that Kumaraswamy has the upper hand, Yogeshwar did not wish to reveal the strategies he has put in place to tackle him.