MLC polls: All is not well in major parties

Some JD(S) leaders not 'happy' with party candidate

No election is complete without heartburns, keeping both the contestants and voters on the edge till the results are out. While both Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) parties are fighting internal bickerings ahead of the election to the State Legislative Council from South Graduates seat, scheduled for June 9, BJP has denied ticket to sitting MLC Go Madhusudhan, daring to bite the bullet.

Even as Janata Dal (Secular) State unit president H D Kumaraswamy shrugs off the acrimony over the decision to field former MLC K T Srikantegowda as ‘minor’, the heartburn over it seems to stay, impacting the prospects of the JD(S). It was evident with Mandya MP C S Puttaraju and Nagamangala MLA N Cheluvaraya Swamy staying away from the meeting convened by Kumaraswamy at Sa Ra Convention Centre in the city, on Monday. Both the prominent leaders from Mandya had favoured V K Jagadish, while the name of Keelara Jayaram was also doing the rounds as a strong contender.

MLAs D C Thammanna (Maddur) and Ramesh Babu Bandisiddegowda (Srirangapatna) were the only two representatives from Mandya, while all the three MLAs from Mysuru district — G T Devegowda (Chamundeshwari), Sa Ra Mahesh (KR Nagar) and S Chikkmadu (HD Kote) — were present. While three MLAs of Mysuru district have pledged their support, much to the relief of Kumaraswamy and Srikantegowda, the discontent in Mandya is the only hurdle. While there are no complaints from the party’s stronghold Hassan, the party is still fighting for a breathing space in Chamarajanagar.

The trouble in the party’s Mysuru legal cell president N R Ravichandre Gowda filing his nomination under the party’s banner seems to be over, with Kumaraswamy having a word with the former. Moreover, Gowda has no option left, with Srikantegowda submitting his nomination along with JD(S) ‘B’ form, said a source.

The situation in Congress party is no different, with too many aspirants turning into a headache, possibly posing a challenge for official nominee Dr H N Ravindra.

H N Manjegowda and Y S Siddaraju, who were also lobbying for tickets, have jumped into the fray as independents. Manjegowda, a former senate member of the University of Mysore, has roots in student movement.

Siddaraju is Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) member and a staunch follower of Congress party leader in Lok Sabha M Mallikarjun Kharge. M Lakshmana, a civic activist and convener of Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens of Mysore (ACICM), another strong contender, has remained mum.

In the BJP camp, the hustings gathered momentum with the party workers attending a workshop at a hotel here recently.

The newly appointed General Secretary (organisation) of the party Arun Kumar attended the meeting, to take stock of the situation.

The party that has already launched a campaign to connect with the voters, Assembly segment-wise. It plans to meet the voters again on May 29 and June 5 on behalf of the party’s nominee M V Ravishankar. Though denial of ticket to Madhusudhan was expected to be costly for the party, Madhusudhan has declared his support to Ravishankar, whom he fondly addressed as his ‘brother’, in a recent meeting attended by State unit chief B S Yeddyurappa. The electorate consists of 1.05 lakh graduates in Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar and Hassan districts.