Karnataka BJP names fresh face for Lok Sabha bypolls in Mandya constituency

Karnataka BJP Thursday named a fresh face, a retired Commercial Tax officer from the Vokkaliga community, as its candidate for the November 3 Lok Sabha bypolls in Mandya constituency. The party is expected to pick its candidate for the Ramanagara assembly seat in a couple of days. "Dr Siddaramaiah, Retired Additional Commissioner, Commercial Tax has joined the BJP.

He will be our candidate from Mandya Lok Sabha constituency," state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa told reporters in Shivamogga. He said Siddaramaiah hails from the Vokkaliga community and his family has a political background, as his father BDoddabore Gowda had got elected to the assembly from Srirangapatnaand Mandya constituencies.

Interestingly, the announcement of Siddaramaiah's names the BJP candidate from Mandya Lok Sabha constituency came soon after he joined the party in Bengaluru Thursday.

BJP expects Siddaramaiah's Vokkaliga background to help its prospects in Mandya, the region dominated by the community, where its position is relatively weak. Stating that the party's candidates would be in the fray from all five constituencies going for the bypolls, Yeddyurappa said there were two or three names for Ramanagara and the candidate would be finalised tomorrow or the day after.

"Our mission is to win all the five seats in the bypolls," he added. The state BJP had on Tuesday finalised the names for two out of three parliamentary and one out of two assembly constituencies that will go for the bypolls on November 3. It had recommended the names of B Y Raghavendra, son of Yeddyurappa and Shanta, sister of senior party leader B Sriramulu for Shivamogga and Ballari and former MLA Shrikant Kulkarni for Jamkhandi assembly segment, to the party's central election committee. Bypolls for three Lok Sabha constituencies- Shivamogga, Ballari and Mandya and two assembly constituencies- Ramanagara and Jamkhandi, will take place on November 3.

The counting of votes will be on November 6. On the other hand, the ruling coalition that has decided to put up a united fight against BJP in the by-elections is yet to finalise the names of candidates. Hectic parleys are on within both parties to finalise the candidates for the seats they would be contesting from, in accordance with the arrangement reached. Congress would fight in Ballari and Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituencies and JDS in Mandya, its traditional stronghold in the Vokkaliga belt in the old Mysuru region.

For the assembly by-polls, the Congress will contest from Jamakhandi and JDS from Ramanagara, which Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had won, but gave up after retaining Channapatna, the other segment bagged by him in the assembly elections. By-elections have been necessitated after BJP's B S Yeddyurappa (Shivamogga) and B Sriramalu (Ballari), and CS Puttaraju of JD(S) (Mandya) resigned as MPs after they got elected to the assembly in May this year. By-polls to Jamkhandi assembly seat was caused by the death of Congress MLA Siddu Nyamagouda, while Ramanagara fell vacant after Kumaraswamy gave up the seat, preferring Chennapatna.

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