BENGALURU: This is not Humble Politician Nograj, but minister Byrati Basavaraj -- some years ago, a mere village panchayat member, but today an MLA and minister in Karnataka, and incharge of Dharapuram election in Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu.
On Tuesday, he stood beside Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a public stage, and still cannot believe it.
Urban Development Minister Byrati Basavaraj later gushed to TNIE, “I am very happy that I could stand beside the PM, many senior leaders in the BJP have not had that opportunity. I joined the BJP just over a year ago and it feels so good to have shared the stage with the PM.’’
With them on stage was district BJP president Dr Murugan, party candidate for Dharapuram who presented the PM with a memento, a metallic spear symbolic of Tamil culture.
Byrati has also been given charge of Aravakuruchi, where former Bangalore South DCP K Annamalai, aka Singham, who joined the BJP, is contesting.
Annamalai and Byrati have gone around the lanes and bylanes of this large constituency in Tamil Nadu, campaigning for the BJP. He is also responsible for Modakurichi, where the BJP has fielded a woman candidate, Saraswati, and has campaigned in the oppressive heat and dust.
If he succeeds in doing well, the BJP would have broken into one of the most challenging political arenas so far. Byrati rose from being a village panchayat member to corporator from Hoodi in the 2000s who contested as MLA and won in 2013, again in 2018, and for the third time after he switched from the Congress to BJP in 2019.