BENGALURU: Political heat has risen in Channapatna as it gears up for the Assembly by-election. Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar has been frequenting the constituency and holding public meetings to prepare the ground for the bypolls. On the other hand, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy and BJP MLC CP Yogeshwar have held several rounds of talks in New Delhi.
Yogeshwar is a strong contender to fight the bypolls as the NDA candidate. According to informed sources, he is likely to contest on a JDS ticket.
Yogeshwar has also conveyed the message to Kumaraswamy that the former is ready to work if the latter fields his son, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, as the NDA candidate. “The discussion on the NDA candidate will be taken in a week when former CM BS Yediyurappa, state BJP chief BY Vijayendra, and Kumaraswamy will meet,” a JDS insider said, adding that like Shivakumar, Kumaraswamy, too, has chalked out a plan to organise public meetings soon to energise the JDS-BJP workers.
Shivakumar, on the other hand, is holding his official Jana Spandana meetings. On Wednesday, Shivakumar reiterated that Kumaraswamy had not distributed sites to the beneficiaries. “A lot of things need to change in Channapatna with respect to the municipality, taluk office, and taluk hospital. There is no graveyard, and many people are without homes. I don’t know why these things were not solved earlier, but I will ensure that these things are done quickly,” he told the people.
Shivakumar said that he will take personal interest in sanctioning government lands to convert them into housing sites for beneficiaries and ensure that the special grants are released to construct the houses. “Let the election dates be announced, and then the candidate will come and file the nomination,” he quipped, replying to a query as to who will be the Congress candidate.
Names of Anasuya, Kusuma doing the rounds
Even as Yogeshwar is considered a strong contender for the NDA ticket, the name of Anasuya, the wife of Bengaluru Rural MP Dr CN Manjunath, has been making the rounds in political circles. She is the daughter of former PM HD Deve Gowda and sister of Kumaraswamy. In the Congress camp, the name of Kusuma Hanumantharayappa is being discussed. She had lost from Rajarajeshwari Nagar in the 2023 Assembly polls.
DKS vows to make Channapatna another B’luru
KPCC president and DyCM DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said that Channapatna will become the next Bengaluru under his leadership. He urged the people of Channapatna to vote for the Congress in the ensuing bypolls. “We are all from Bengaluru district. We were in Bengaluru and we are in Bengaluru. We don’t have to lose the name... wait for a couple of days. You may check the textbooks on all our origins. Hosakote, Devanahalli, Magadi and Kanakapura all belong to Bengaluru,” he told the gathering at the Jana Spandana programme in Channapatna. Asked about Kumaraswamy’s promise that he would make Ramanagara and Channapatna twin cities, Shivakumar asked why the former did not fulfil his promises in the past.