The upcoming elections will witness one-time close friends, brothers and relatives contesting against each other in bitterly divisive electoral battles.
In Shikaripura constituency, former close friends B S Yeddyurappa and Shantaveerappa Gowda are contesting against each other on the KJP and the Congress tickets respectively. Yeddyurappa and Shantaveerappa Gowda were called as Rama and Lakshman because both had bicycled across the district together to build the BJP.
But after Yeddyurappa became the chief minister he did not make Shantaveerappa Gowda an MLC or promoted him in any way. Instead, Yeddyurappa’s sons gained importance.
Shantaveerappa Gowda told Express: “I believed Yeddyurappa blindly earlier. Now I am disillusioned. I would not have deserted Yeddyurappa if he had treated me and other leaders well. But as soon as he became deputy chief minister he turned selfish.”
Accusing Yeddyurappa of indulging in corruption, Gowda left the BJP alleging that honest workers do not have respect in the party. Later, he joined the Congress and is determined to bring down the Yeddyurappa citadel. Meanwhile, Sagar constituency is witnessing the fight between Kagodu Thimmappa and Belur Gopalkrishna, Thimmappa’s nephew. Gopalkrishna contested against Thimmappa from Sagar constituency on the BJP ticket in 2004, when his godfather S Bangarappa joined the BJP and won the election. In 2008, when Bangarappa left the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party, Gopalkrishna remained in the BJP and contested against Thimmappa to win for the second time. Now, he is contesting from the JD(S) against his uncle for the third time.
In every election, Sorab constituency has drawn the attention of the state as well as the country, as Bangarappa’s fiefdom. After 2004, when Bangarappa became the Shimoga MP, the constituency witnessed bitter contests between his sons Kumar and Madhu.
When Bangarappa joined the BJP in 2004, his younger son Madhu followed his father and contested against his elder brother Kumar, a minister in the S M Krishna government. Kumar won. In 2008, Bangarappa left the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party. Both Madhu and Kumar contested against each other from Samajwadi Party and Congress respectively. Both lost to BJP candidate Hartal Halappa, who was a staunch follower of Bangarappa.
This time, the Bangarappa brothers are contesting against each other on the JD(S) and the Congress tickets while Hartal Hallappa is contesting from the KJP.
Kumar told Express: “Madhu is contesting from the JD(S), which my father Bangarappa joined during the last days of his political career. This does not mean that Madhu would get sympathy votes. The JD(S) cannot hijack sympathy, influence and credits of the development works done by Bangarappa because they were against him till he joined them. People know what the JD(S) is. Bangarappa worked for all these years with the Congress and progress happened during the Congress rule. Neither Madhu nor Halappa can claim credit for this. Though we are brothers, I have an upper hand against Madhu because people are aware of the situation and contribution of the Congress.’’