HD Kumaraswamy and DK Shivakumar’s game plan for Channapatna depends on Yogeshwara move

BENGALURU: With prestige at stake for both DCM and Congress state president DK Shivakumar and Union minister and JDS state chief HD Kumaraswamy in the Channapatna bypoll, the decision to select their respective party candidates has become a complicated matter.

The impasse over the selection of an NDA candidate continued with BJP MLC CP Yogeshwara deciding to contest on a BJP ticket or as an independent, though Kumaraswamy offered him a chance to enter the fray on the JDS symbol.

The BJP high command, which allowed its ally JDS to contest on set, left the decision on the candidature to Kumaraswamy. BJP parliamentary council member BS Yediyurappa emphasized that Union Home Minister Amit Shah also clarified that Channapatna is a JDS seat.

In Mandya on Sunday, Kumaraswamy hinted at JDS’s offer to Yogeshwara, citing that in the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha seat, his brother-in-law Dr CN Manjunath contested for the BJP and won the seat.

“Yogeshwara wasted the opportunity and now Kumaraswamy is likely to spring a surprise as his party’s interest comes first. Irrespective of the result, Kumaraswamy will field a person who is loyal to the party,” said a JDS leader. Kumaraswamy will meet BJP leaders in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the issue, he added.

Kumaraswamy also realized that only if the BJP and JDS work together can the alliance defeat the Congress candidate. But if the fight is triangular, the seat could slip out of the hands of the NDA, the JDS leader said. This is the reason why Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil, who suffered defeat in two consecutive elections, is scared, he added.

The Congress leadership is also in a similar situation as Shivakumar’s brother DK Suresh faced a humiliating defeat from the Bengaluru Rural LS seat. If Yogeshwara contests as an independent, Suresh may take the opportunity to contest the vote or the Congress may consider fielding Raghunandan Ramanna.

Raghunandan unsuccessfully contested the 2011 bypoll and polled 12,687 votes.