JOIN USHoskote votes for ‘Swabhimana’ as Sharath wins big
By winning the bypolls as an independent from Hoskote, Sharath Bachegowda seems to have succeeded in pulling off the “Swabhimani” campaign in the constituency.
Sharath won by a margin of 11,486 votes against BJP’s M T B Nagaraj.
Ahead of the bypolls, the constituency saw a heated contest among three candidates: Nagaraj (BJP), Sharath Bachegowda (Independent) and Padmavathi Suresh (INC). While Nagaraj was expected to finish third, he managed to secure 70,185 votes.
It all began when Nagaraj, a Congress rebel, was given ticket by the BJP. Sharath, who had contested from BJP in the 2018 Assembly elections, had lost to Nagaraj, who was then in Congress. Irked by Nagaraj being given the ticket, Sharath decided to contest as an independent and distanced himself from BJP. He pitched his campaign on similar lines as that of Sumalatha Ambareesh, who contested from Mandya as independent and successfully went on to become an MP.
That Nagaraj was feeling jittery showed when, just ahead of the results, he lodged a complaint with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa that Sharath’s father B N Bachegowda, the BJP’s Chikballapur MP, was pulling strings in the background to help his son.
While the party has not probed into Nagaraj’s complaint, Sharath’s win is largely seen as advantage BJP. Speculations are rife that the party might rope him back by offering him a plum post.
However, Sharath remained non-committal at this point. Speaking to reporters after his victory, he said he was open to discussion with all parties. “Since the poll mandate has been against the national parties, I will take a decision after discussing with members of my constituency,” he said.