H C Mahadevappa likely to join BJP

Former minister and Congress leader H C Mahadevappa, who was once described as the lieutenant of former chief minister Siddaramaiah, is all set to come a full circle in politics as he is expected to join the BJP soon.

“Mahadevappa, who started his political career from the erstwhile Janata Party, was with the Janata Parivar in its later variants, the Janata Dal and JD(S). In the 2008 polls, he joined the Congress. By joining the BJP now, he would come a full circle by covering all major political parties of the state,” said one his associates from his Janata Party days.

“Since his first election as MLA from T Narsipur (SC reserved) constituency in the district in 1985, he has served five terms. He faced a crushing defeat against a newcomer, Zilla Panchayat member M Ashvin Kumar, in the last poll (held in May 2018). While Ashvin of the JD(S) emerged victorious with 83,929 votes, Mahadevappa managed to score 55,451 votes. Mahadevappa is a native of Hadinaru village in the neighbouring Nanjangud taluk. Hence, he has political aspirations in Nanjangud too which is also an SC reserved constituency since the 2008 polls. He hoped that either himself or his son Sunil Bose should represent Nanjangud,” said Mahadevappa’s former aide. “There are multi-dimensions to his defeat in the last polls. Just a couple of months before the polls, he distanced himself from Siddaramaiah. The denial of a Congress ticket to his son Sunil Bose from Nanjangud constituency is said to be the reason for him to sever his ties with Siddaramaiah and the Congress. Siddaramaiah getting a ticket for his son Dr Yathindra from Varuna Assembly was deemed to have added insult on injury for Mahadevappa. But, there are also other reasons for Mahadevappa moving away from both Siddaramaiah and the Congress,” he said.

“Both Siddaramaiah and Mahadevappa had political aspirations for their wards, Rakesh and Sunil Bose respectively. However, with the untimely death of Rakesh, Siddaramaiah brought his younger son Dr Yathindra, a political novice, to the forefront. Bose, who has been nurturing political aspirations since over a decade, did not get an opportunity. Bose is an accused in a bribery case in connection with illegal sand extraction and transportation,” said a Congress leader.

“Mahadevappa had been in the Assembly polls continuously since 1985 in eight polls and has won five of them on different party tickets. He lost in 1989 to M Sreenivasaiah of the Congress, in 1999 to Dr Bharathi Shankar of the BJP and in 2018 to M Ashvin Kumar of the JD(S). In 1985, he won as a Janata Party candidate, in 1994, he won as Janata Dal candidate, and in 2004 as JD(S) candidate. He is in the Congress since the 2008 election. The BJP, which won the 1999 polls, failed to hold on to the T Narsipur constituency. By the 2018 polls, the BJP was pushed to the farthest third place with its candidate S Shankar getting just 11,812 votes. The constituency represented by M Rajasekharamurthy, during the first four terms, has been reserved for Scheduled Castes since the 1978 polls,” said a BJP leader. “The BJP needs a leader in T Narsipur because the charisma of Dr Bharathi Shankar is on the wane. But, can Mahadevappa revive the fortunes of BJP in T Narsipur is the question? It has come to our notice that talks have been held between Mahadevappa and BJP leaders in Bengaluru. Mahadevappa is set to take any step to secure the future of his son Sunil Bose,” he said.