MYSURU: A race is on among supporters of KPCC president D K Shivakumar and JDS senior leader HD Kumaraswamy to get them to contest from the Mandya district. The top two Vokkaliga leaders, contenders for the chief minister’s post, are aiming for big gains in the Old Mysuru region, especially Mandya, the Vokkaliga heartland.
Since the Vokkaliga vote share is what makes the difference here, they are taking their respective political yatras, Jana Dhwani of the Congress and Pancharatna of JDS, to the sugar belt. Supporters of Shivakumar want him to contest from Maddur, the hometown of his political mentor and former chief minister SM Krishna. But Congress had earlier informally announced that Krishna’s nephew Gurucharan would be the candidate from Maddur.
Leaders from the Grand Old Party hope that Shivakumar’s entry would put the brakes on the JDS run in Mandya, and give the party an edge. JDS has already announced that HD Deve Gowda’s close relative and confidant DC Thamanna, who served as transport minister in the coalition government, would be its candidate from Mandya.
During the 2018 Assembly polls, JDS won all seven seats in the district. But the district was not a JDS stronghold just a few years ago. During Krishna’s tenure, Congress had managed to win five out of seven seats. Even during the 2013 polls, because of the good show in Mandya, the GOP managed to come back to power on its own strength.
Congress leaders want Shivakumar to play the role of Krishna to win a major portion of seats from Mandya, Mysuru and Hassan, which is considered to be the stronghold of the Deve Gowda family. They feel that Shivakumar’s entry into Maddur will block the chances of Abhishek Ambareesh, son of late actor-turned-politician Ambareesh and incumbent Mandya MP Sumalatha.
Meanwhile, JDS leaders want Kumaraswamy to contest from Mandya constituency. Sitting party MLA M Srinivas recently announced that he will invite the former chief minister to contest from here. “I am ready to give up my constituency and will campaign for Kumaraswamy. I won here by 25,000 votes, while Kumaraswamy will romp home with a much bigger margin,” he said. Leaders from the regional party are now eagerly waiting for Kumaraswamy’s reaction during his second leg of the Pancharatna yatra in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar.