CM may have his way in Hebbal candidate choice

Byrathi Suresh likely to be fielded for Assembly byelection

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have scored a point over senior leaders in the party including Mallikarjun Kharge with his choice of candidate - Byrathi Suresh - likely to be given the ticket to contest the Hebbal Assembly bypoll.

In all probability, Suresh’s name will be sent to the party high command for clearance after it is vetted by AICC general secretary and State incharge Dijvijay Singh. Singh will be in Bengaluru on Friday. Elections are scheduled to be held on February 13 and January 27 is the last date to file nominations.

Suresh’s name was opposed by Kharge and several other leaders, including seat aspirant H M Revanna.

They considered Suresh a non-member and an outsider. However, Siddaramaiah stood by Suresh, stating he was a “winning candidate” and had worked in the constituency.

Suresh, an independent MLC, lent support to the Congress after Siddaramaiah became chief minister. Muslim leaders, including Jaffer Sharief,
Rahaman Khan and Roshan Baig, had opposed Suresh and wanted a candidate from
their community to be given the ticket.

In Devadurga of Raichur district, the Congress is keen on tapping the sympathy factor and allot the party ticket to Savithridevi, wife of Ventakesh Naik (sitting MLA whose death necessitated the bypolls) or his son Rajashekar Naik. Up north in Bidar, Rahim Khan, who lost by 1,800 votes in 2013, has emerged the frontrunner.

The BJP is likely to give the ticket for the Hebbal seat to sitting MLC Y A Naray-anaswamy after former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu and Lalitha, the wife of the late Jagadish Kumar (sitting MLA) backed out. Both Naidu and Lalitha are learnt to have stated that they do not have the resources to face the polls.

BJP is likely to give the ticket to former minister Shivanagouda Naik to contest the Devadurga seat and to Suryakanth, the son of the late Gurupadappa Nagamarappalli (sitting MLA) in Bidar.

Discussions held
Though it was rumoured that veteran Congress leader Jaffer Sharief, whose grandson Rehman Sharief is vying for a Congress ticket from Hebbal, had held discussions with JD(S) State president H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday, the senior Sharief denied the same.

Sharief told Deccan Herald that at no cost would he or his grandson would approach the JD(S).

“I have the highest regard for H D Deve Gowda and we are good friends. It is true that I did get desperate and quit the party once, but I am not going to repeat the mistake again. I am very keen that Rehman gets the ticket. But if the party considers somebody else, there will be no heartburn. We will work for whoever is given the ticket,” he added.