BENGALURU: Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy has shown keen interest in fielding his party candidate in the upcoming bypolls to Hiriyur Assembly constituency.
The seat fell vacant following the demise of former minister D Sudhakar in May.
Plagued by internal bickering and cross-voting in the June 18 MLC elections, the BJP may agree to fielding a JDS member as the NDA candidate in Hiriyur, informed sources told The New Indian Express. BJP Karnataka in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agrawal on Thursday said that he will hold talks with Kumaraswamy on Friday.
“There is a growing voice within JDS to field our party candidate from Hiriyur. I have discussed the matter with the BJP high command leaders. I have held two or three meetings with the leaders of the Hiriyur constituency. We will see how things pan out since there is enough time,” Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Meanwhile, JDS Legislature Party leader and Chikkanayakanahalli MLA CB Suresh Babu said that traditionally, Hiriyur has witnessed a fight between JDS and Congress.
With the NDA performing poorly in the recent MLC polls, Kumaraswamy is likely to take a calculated risk in the Hiriyur bypolls by leading from the front, opined political analysts.
Hiriyur has sizable Kunchitiga Vokkaliga community voters (about 35,000), besides Kadugollas (45,000), and SCs/STs (65,000) and Muslims (20,000).
If the Congress fields Suhas, son of late D Sudhakar, JDS is likely to pitch a Kadugolla leader, expecting the Vokkaliga votes in its favour. Suhas hails from the Jain community. It is to be seen whether the Congress leadership goes ahead with Suhas or field former Hiriyur MLA Poornima Krishnappa, a Golla community leader. Her father A Krishnappa had lost the seat to Congress candidate Sudhakar in 2013 by a whisker.
Poornima switched to Congress after losing to D Sudhakar in the 2023 Assembly polls.
She still has her clout and even BJP workers may switch sides if she is declared the candidate, Girish, a former GP member from T Nagenahalli, told The New Indian Express.
The BJP has already set up a panel under the leadership of Chitradurga MP Govind Karjol to chalk out a plan to field its candidate.
Will make a comeback at the right time: Kumaraswamy Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy has clarified that he will make a comeback to state politics at the right time.
“I am the state president of our party. So I am responsible for the party organisation. I will come back to the state, that does not mean it is right now,” he said.
The Mandya MP further said that as Union Minister, he has three years of tenure remaining and claimed that since he has been given responsibility at the Centre, while handling it, he will also organise the party in Karnataka.
Kumaraswamy said he will be active at both the centre and the state and ruled out contesting the Hiriyur bypolls.
past results
2023 polls: D Sudhakar (Cong): 92,050 votes; Poornima Krishnappa (BJP): 61,728; M Raveendrappa (JDS): 38,686
2018 polls: Poornima Krishnappa (BJP): 77,733 votes; D Sudhakar (Cong): 64,858; D Yashodhara (JDS): 42,044
