JOIN USMLC polls: BJP hits campaign trail, Cong, JD(S) yet to start
With the State Election Commission announcing the calendar of events for the election to the Legislative Council from Mysuru-Chamarajanagar local bodies segment, the districts considered as the fiefdom of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah are in the focus again.
The election will be held on December 27, with the notification scheduled to be issued on December 2 to officially set the ball rolling. The term of sitting members will expire on January 5, 2016.
The segment, a dual-member seat, considered as the stronghold of Congress party is likely to field sitting MLC R Dharmasena. So also in Janata Dal (Secular) with its incumbent Legislator S Nagaraju (Sandesh Nagaraju) likely to seek re-election.
In BJP, it’s a change in face again with newcomer R Raghu officially announced as the party’s nominee. Raghu, who was in Congress for over 25 years, had also served as the chairman of Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA).
Owing to the turn of events in the party, that did not go well with Raghu, he switched over to the BJP recently and has also succeeded in getting ticket to contest the polls.
Cashing in on the delay in rival parties Congress and JD(S) in announcing their nominees, Raghu has hit the campaign trail two months in advance. Dharmasena is also not behind as he claims to have started groundwork in the interest of the party (irrespective of candidate) ever since the grama panchayat elections were held. Nagaraju is riding high on his present tenure, hoping to tilt the victory in his stride again.
Raghu told Deccan Herald, “I have already met 60 per cent of the voters (4,500) against the total 7,594 voters. The things are in favour of the party and the voters, who are elected representatives in local bodies, have identified a true representative in me”.
According to Raghu, an increase in the number of BJP-supported nominees, who have won the GP polls in both the districts and also the earlier victory of BJP candidate K R Mallikarjunappa from the same seat in the elections held in 2009, will improve his winning prospects.
During the election, S Nagaraju got the highest of first preferential votes, followed by Mallikarjunappa and then sitting MLC N Manjunath from Congress. While Nagaraju and Mallikarjunappa were elected to the Council, Manjunath had to lose.
Following the resignation of Mallikarjunappa in 2013, by-election was conducted with Congress wresting the seat through Dharmasena.
Of the 7,010 votes polled, Dharmasena got 3,779 votes while his close rival U S Shekar from the erstwhile Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) got 2,611 votes.
As said earlier, members of various local bodies — from GP to MCC, including TMCs, CMCs, TPs, Town Panchayats and ZPs and other elected representatives — form the electorate.
However, GP members form the chunk of the electorate. The number of GPs have increased by 31 from earlier 235 in Mysuru and by 11 from earlier 119 GPs in Chamarajanagar.
Ever since the particular segment came into existence in the year 1988, Congress nominee is winning the elections. Starting from T N Narasimhamurthy, followed by C Ramesh (1997, as the election was delayed by three years though it was scheduled to be held after six years in 1994) and N Manjunath in 2003 and Dharmasena in 2013, the Congress is a sure winner here.