BENGALURU: In the battle for Channapatna between two actor-turned-politicians, the Sainika has emerged victorious.
The voters of Channapatna, the ‘Land of Toys,’ have elected their ‘Son of the Soil’ as legislator, with Congress’
CP Yogeshwara defeating NDA’s Nikhil Kumaraswamy by a handsome margin of 25,413 votes. While Yogeshwara secured 1,12,642 votes, Nikhil polled 87,229 votes. Apart from further cementing the Congress’ base in Old Mysuru, Yogeshwara’s win has strengthened the hands of DyCM and KPCC president D K Shivakumar in the Vokkaliga bastion.
The vote base Yogeshwara had developed on his own, cutting across communities and party lines, as a five-time MLA, has steered him to victory against Nikhil, grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda, and son of Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy. And for Nikhil, this is his third straight loss in electoral politics after having lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Mandya and the 2023 Assembly polls from Ramanagara.
Yogeshwara might have switched parties, but throughout the campaign, his USP was the development works he implemented in Channapatna during his tenure as an MLA and minister in the past. By crushing Nikhil, Yogeshwara has settled the scores with Kumaraswamy after he tasted two consecutive defeats at the latter’s hand.
“My team and the Congress team worked in tandem. I am grateful to CM Siddaramaiah, DyCM DK Shivakumar, and their cabinet colleagues. The man whom I had ensured will taste defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore Rural—DK Suresh—helped me win,” Yogeshwara said, expressing his gratitude to the DK Brothers. “In order to become a union minister, Kumaraswamy made his son a scapegoat.
Former CM BS Yediyurappa and his son BY Vijayendra, the state BJP chief, conspired to move me out of NDA, though I had helped them in the past,” Yogeshwara said. He also hit out at the JDS, saying that the regional party was facing an existential crisis. “It risked Nikhil’s political career... after his defeat, the JDS is counting its days,” Yogeshwara said.
Meanwhile, former DyCM and BJP MLA Dr CN Ashwath Narayan credited Yogeshwara’s victory to his own strength and not to the popularity of the Congress. It can be recalled that several BJP leaders, including LoP in the Assembly R Ashoka, had strongly lobbied to give the NDA ticket to Yogeshwara.
Yogeshwara resigned as MLC and from the BJP just before the bypolls. He got a red carpet welcome into the Congress by DyCM DK Shivakumar, who had made up his mind not to field his younger brother, DK Suresh. The BJP could not stop its Channapatna party cadre from shifting its loyalty to Yogeshwara, which proved costly for Nikhil.
Former PM and JDS patriarch HD Deve Gowda claiming credit for the construction of the Iggaluru dam did not attract voters, as Yogeshwara had already made an impact by filling the tanks.
The minority vote bank that helped Kumaraswamy win against Yogeshwara in 2023 shifted loyalties to the latter this time by converting what would have been a photo finish to a convincing win for the Congress. The issue of Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan making an alleged “racist” remark on Kumaraswamy and the ongoing Waqf land row, too, did not help Nikhil.
“It is evident that the votes of a particular community have largely gone to Congress. The JDS has always stood for the welfare of this community, and Deve Gowda ensured reservation for them. Despite our contributions, they didn’t vote for us. I don’t wish to comment further,” Nikhil added.
