SHIVAMOGGA: With Congress announcing Geetha Shivarajkumar as the candidate for the Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency on Friday, it is almost certain now that the constituency will witness a clash between the children of two former chief ministers.
Geetha is the daughter of late S Bangarappa, while the sitting MP BY Raghavendra is BS Yediyurappa’s son. Though Raghavendra’s name was not announced in the first BJP list, it is almost certain that he would be the candidate from the constituency, considering the development work he has taken up in the last five years.
Geetha’s candidature was expected as she rented a house next to her brother and minister Madhu Bangarappa’s house in the city on March 3, which was Madhu’s birthday.
“Both Bangarappa and Yediyurappa came up in state politics as they fought for issues concerning people, like bagair hukum land, bonded labourers, Sharavathi evacuees and irrigation of dry patches in the district. They also contributed significantly to the growth of the district. Now, it is interesting that the second generation of the two families are facing off each other,” said a senior leader from district Congress.
Raghavendra has won all the three parliamentary elections he has contested since 2009. He defeated Bangarappa once and Madhu Bangarappa twice in the 2018 by-election as well as the 2019 general elections. In 2014, Yediyurappa defeated Geetha, who contested on a JDS ticket. Geetha, who is the wife of Kannada film superstar Shivarajkumar, then had a posse of prominent Kannada actors campaigning for her.
Shivarajkumar, on March 3, said he would definitely campaign for his wife if she contests from the constituency. Now, with Congress ruling the state, Madhu being the district in-charge minister and Shivarajkumar being a popular figure, the party will put up a strong fight against Raghavendra.
Madhu, during a recent visit to the district, had said, “The five guarantees of Congress will surpass PM Modi’s guarantees in this election.”
But an unperturbed Raghavendra told The New Indian Express that his development works, including the railway projects taken up across the constituency, including Baindur of Udupi district, would favour him in the election.