K’taka by-polls: Cong fields Yogeeshwara in Channapatna, Bellary MP Tukaram’s wife in Sandur

Bengaluru, The Congress has announced the candidature of C P Yogeeshwara, who joined the party after quitting BJP, and Bellary MP E Tukaram’s wife E Annapurna for the November 13 by-polls to Channapatna and Sandur Assembly segments, respectively, in Karnataka. The party is yet to announce its nominee for Shiggaon seat. The last date for filing nominations is October 25, and the final date for withdrawal of papers is October 30. By-polls for Sandur, Shiggaon, and Channapatna are necessitated, as the seats fell vacant following the election of their respective representatives Tukaram, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD to Lok Sabha in May elections. The Congress named the candidates for the two seats late on Wednesday. While the BJP has already announced its candidates for Sandur and Shiggaon, the party has ceded Channapatna seat to JD, which is yet to announce its nominee. In a dramatic development, Yogeeshwara on Wednesday quit BJP and joined the Congress, hours before the party fielded him as its candidate from the high profile Channapatna segment. Yogeeshwara, the actor-turned-politician, had appealed to leaders of the alliance to consider giving him a ticket from the saffron party. He had also said he had plans to contest as an independent if he didn’t get the ticket. There were plans to field Yogeeshwara on a JD ticket, but he was not interested in it, sources said, “instead, he wanted Kumaraswamy to support him as BJP candidate, which was not acceptable to the latter and his party.” With this by-poll, “D K Brothers” Deputy CM and state Congress chief D K Shivakumar and former MP D K Suresh are hoping to regain Congress’ ground in the Vokkaliga dominated region, which is their home turf, after the Lok Sabha poll debacle in which the latter lost to BJP-JD joint candidate and Kumaraswamy’s brother-in-law Dr C N Manjunath in Bengaluru Rural, under which the Channapatna Assembly seat comes. Kumaraswamy’s actor-turned-politician son Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s name has been doing the rounds as JD-BJP alliance’s candidate for Channapatna seat. Nikhil had lost the 2023 Assembly polls from neighbouring Ramanagara Assembly segment. There are also speculations that JD may even field one of its local leaders as the candidate. In Sandur, Congress has fielded Annapurna, whose husband Tukaram had intensely lobbied to get the ticket for one of his family members. In Shiggaon, where the Congress is yet to announce the candidate, the party seems to be in a dilemma, whether the ticket should be given to a Muslim or a Panchamasali Lingayat candidate, party sources said. The names of former MLA Syed Azeempeer Khadri and Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, 2023 defeated candidate, were also doing the rounds for the seat along with the names of former minister and MLA Vinay Kulkarni’s daughter Vaishali Kulkarni and his wife Shivaleela. The BJP has announced Bommai’s son Bharath Bommai as its candidate for Shiggaon and the party’s ST Morcha president Bangaru Hanumanthu for Sandur Assembly segment.
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