<p>Gundlupet Assembly constituency, which has seen 14 elections, so far, will once again be witness to family politics. The constituency has given a seasoned politician, the first woman Speaker K S Nagarathnamma, to the state. Nagarathnamma represented the constituency seven times. <br /><br />She passed away in 1993. Cooperation and Sugar Minister H S Mahadev Prasad, who was defeated by her twice earlier, got a strong hold of the constituency and was successful in retaining his position as MLA for five terms from 1994 to 2013.<br /><br />By-elections is necessitated with the passing away of Mahadev Prasad now. The Congress party, after considering various options, decided to field M C Mohanakumari (Geetha Mahadev Prasad), wife of the late minister for the bypolls.<br /><br />Before Prasad entered politics, his father H N Srikanta Shetty had unsuccessfully contested against Nagarathnamma twice (1978, 1983). Now, his daughter-in-law is contesting the bypolls.<br /><br />C S Niranjan Kumar, who had given a tough fight to Prasad during the elections in 2008 and 2013 has entered the fray to test his luck again on a BJP ticket. <br /><br />Niranjan Kumar also has a political background. His father Chowdahalli Shivamallappa was a Congressman earlier and had contested against Prasad in the year 1994 and 1999, but was defeated on both occasion. <br /><br />After Prasad quit JD(S) and joined the Congress in the year 2008, Shivamallappa quit Congress and joined the BJP.<br /><br />Lingayat dominance<br />Lingayat voters dominate the Gundlupet constituency, followed by Scheduled Caste, Uppara, Nayaka, Kuruba and minority community voters.<br /><br />The constituency, which was represented by just three persons, H K Shivarudrappa, K S Nagarathnamma and H S Mahadev Prasad in the last 14 elections, are Lingayats. The bypoll candidates for the Congress and BJP — Mohanakumari and Niranjan Kumar — too represent the same community.<br />DH News Service<br /></p>
<p>Gundlupet Assembly constituency, which has seen 14 elections, so far, will once again be witness to family politics. The constituency has given a seasoned politician, the first woman Speaker K S Nagarathnamma, to the state. Nagarathnamma represented the constituency seven times. <br /><br />She passed away in 1993. Cooperation and Sugar Minister H S Mahadev Prasad, who was defeated by her twice earlier, got a strong hold of the constituency and was successful in retaining his position as MLA for five terms from 1994 to 2013.<br /><br />By-elections is necessitated with the passing away of Mahadev Prasad now. The Congress party, after considering various options, decided to field M C Mohanakumari (Geetha Mahadev Prasad), wife of the late minister for the bypolls.<br /><br />Before Prasad entered politics, his father H N Srikanta Shetty had unsuccessfully contested against Nagarathnamma twice (1978, 1983). Now, his daughter-in-law is contesting the bypolls.<br /><br />C S Niranjan Kumar, who had given a tough fight to Prasad during the elections in 2008 and 2013 has entered the fray to test his luck again on a BJP ticket. <br /><br />Niranjan Kumar also has a political background. His father Chowdahalli Shivamallappa was a Congressman earlier and had contested against Prasad in the year 1994 and 1999, but was defeated on both occasion. <br /><br />After Prasad quit JD(S) and joined the Congress in the year 2008, Shivamallappa quit Congress and joined the BJP.<br /><br />Lingayat dominance<br />Lingayat voters dominate the Gundlupet constituency, followed by Scheduled Caste, Uppara, Nayaka, Kuruba and minority community voters.<br /><br />The constituency, which was represented by just three persons, H K Shivarudrappa, K S Nagarathnamma and H S Mahadev Prasad in the last 14 elections, are Lingayats. The bypoll candidates for the Congress and BJP — Mohanakumari and Niranjan Kumar — too represent the same community.<br />DH News Service<br /></p>
