SHIVAMOGGA: Though Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress are yet to announce their candidates for Shikaripura, election fever has already gripped the constituency — a bastion of the saffron party since 1983. State BJP vice-president and son of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, BY Vijayendra, who is likely to be the candidate from here, has increased his pace of campaigning, while Congress workers are waiting for the party to announce the candidate.
Shikaripura is grabbing the eyeballs this time as former chief minister and Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa — who recently decided to retire from electoral politics — has announced his son Vijayendra as his successor to the constituency.
It is curious to know whether the voters will pick Vijayendra and reiterate that Shikaripura is the bastion of the BJP, or elect a Congress MLA after a gap of two decades. Though Yediyurappa has been representing the segment since 1983, he had to suffer a defeat in 1999 when BN Mahalingappa of Congress won by 7,561 votes.
In 2008, 2013 and 2018, Yediyurappa successfully won over 50% of the votes, the highest being 66.23% in 2008 when it was the ‘Clash of the Titans’ between Yediyurappa and S Bangarappa, who contested on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
The constituency has large numbers of Lingayats, SCs, STs and Muslims. Among SCs, the Banjara community, which forms the biggest chunk, has been supporting BJP for a long time. But it is not sure whether they will show similar support to the saffron party this time, given that protesters from the community threw stones at Yediyurappa’s house after the Basavaraj Bommai government implemented internal reservation for SCs, with a cap of 4.5% for touchable communities like Banjara, Bhovi, Koracha, and Korama.
When The New Indian Express visited Shikaripura on Wednesday, many voters expressed their wish to vote for BJP. Some Banjaras, expressing their anguish over the reservation issue, too said they want more clarity on the quota, which is what the BJP cadre is focussing on now. Kudachi MLA P Rajeev has also visited the constituency and held talks with Banjara leaders.
Some voters said they would decide a little later after BJP and Congress announce their candidates. Congress, seeing a glimmer of hope, too is working hard in the constituency with party ticket aspirants — Nagaraj Gowda, Pushpa Shivakumar, and Goni Malatesh — putting in the effort. The Congress polled 32.26% of votes in 2013 and 33.31% in 2018.