Bengaluru: KPCC Chief DK Shivakumar has worked out a plan to ensure victory in the upcoming by-polls in Raja Rajeshwari Nagaar and Shira.
The party has appointed one MLA, MLC and senior leader as in-charge for every ward and Panchayat in the two assembly segments that are running into bypolls.
Meanwhile, the booth-level responsibility will be given to partyworkers. Everyone will work in tandem,” said DKShi.
The Congress has selected the names of TB Jayachandra and Kusuma Hanumantharayappa as party’s candidates for by-elections for Sira and Rajarajeshwarinagar, respectively.
The by-elections have been necessitated for Sira following the death of JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana in August; while the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat fell vacant following the disqualification of Congress MLA N Munirathna under the anti-defection law last year.
The ruling BJP is yet to announce its candidates. Apparently with an eye on sympathy votes, JDS has fielded Sathyanarayana”s wife Ammajamma as its candidate in Sira.
Though speculations are rife in the BJP circles that radiologist Dr C M Rajesh Gowda, who recently joined the party, is likely to be its candidate, there are reports of resentment within the local unit about giving tickets to a new entrant, sidelining the old loyal party workers.
In R R Nagar, JD(S) has shortlisted three probables — party city unit chief R Praksah, RR Nagar unit President Bettaswamy Gowda and a leader from the Jnananbharathi ward Krishnamurthy.
Even though Munirathna was initially seen as a clear choice as the BJP candidate, there have been reports of strong resistance within the party against his candidature.
A section in the party is pitching for fielding Tulsi Muniraju Gowda, the party”s defeated candidate in the 2018 elections. Congress is making every effort to ensure victory in the polls after it witnessed a rout in the December 2019 bypolls.
The by-polls are nothing less than a litmus test of DKShi, as this is the first election that he will be strategising after being appointed as the KPCC president.
Much is at stake for Shivakumar, after the recent CBI raids against him, as he was looking at consolidating his position in the party and re-asserting himself as a strong Vokkaliga leader, the community that has considerable presence in both the segments.
Winning R R Nagar is even more crucial for him, as it comes under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency represented by his brother D K Suresh, whose properties were also raided by the CBI last week in connection with a disproportionate assets case.
(with inputs from PTI)
