Karnataka polls: BJP’s Sreeramulu to take on CM Siddaramaiah from Badami, actor Ambareesh opts out
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah (File Photo) Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah (File Photo)
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday filed his nomination from a second constituency of Badami, in the backward Bagalkot district of north Karnataka, even as the BJP flew in Scheduled Tribe leader and former minister B Sreeramulu, a close associate of the former Bellary mining barons the Reddy brothers, to take on Siddaramaiah in the constituency.
The Congress CM indicated that he is contesting from Badami — apart from his home constituency of Chamundeshwari in Mysuru district — at the behest of Congress leaders from Bagalkot, though it is widely considered to be an effort to insure himself in the polls. On the last day for filing of nominations, the BJP quickly named Sreeramulu as its candidate for the constituency and rushed him to Badami with state party president B S Yeddyurappa and BJP Karnataka in-charge P Muralidhar Rao.
With nearly 40 per cent of people in Badami belonging to the backward class Kuruba community, to which Siddaramaiah belongs, the seat is considered a safe bet for the CM compared to Chamundeshwari, where the JDS and BJP are seen as having allied tacitly. “The people of north Karnataka asked me to contest. I raised the issue with high command. Rahul Gandhi asked me to contest,’’ Siddaramaiah said.
Sreeramulu hails from the Valmiki Nayak ST community, which has a small presence in the region. The JDS, on its part, has fielded a member of the sizeable Lingayat community, Hanumanth Mavinmarad, for the seat. “Our aim is to make Yeddyurappa the CM,’’ Sreeramulu said after filing his nomination.
The BJP also stuck by its decision to disallow Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Vijayendra from contesting Varuna seat in Mysuru — against Siddaramaiah’s son Dr Yatindra — despite supporters of Vijayendra staging protests. The BJP has chosen a former Mysuru district rural vice-president of the party, T Basavaraj, as the candidate for Varuna. The son of the state BJP president was offered a consolation of the post of president of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Karnataka.
Vijayendra was widely expected to file his nomination on Monday to battle Siddaramaiah’s son since he had spent nearly three weeks in the constituency building a rapport with voters. The BJP however barred him from filing his nomination and Yeddyurappa announced that he had asked Vijayendra to give an ordinary party worker a chance to contest.
The Congress suffered a setback in the Vokkaliga constituency of Mandya, where Kannada film star M H Ambareesh refused to file his nomination. Ambareesh has been sulking since he was dropped from the Siddaramaiah ministry. Finally the Congress handed the nomination form to newbie Ganiga Ravikumar. Ambareesh said he was not keen to contest on account of his health. “I am not afraid of anybody but I am not in a condition to campaign,” he said.
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