Tough contest for Cong ticket for Mysuru Kodagu LS seat

NT Correspondent

Mysuru: With just a few months left for the Lok Sabha polls, there is stiff competition for the Congress ticket from Mysuru-Kodagu parliamentary constituency as several aspirants have applied to contest in the upcoming parliamentary polls.

As many as 14 aspirants sought the Congress ticket from the home district of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Mysuru at the recently held prospective candidates study meeting chaired by the state Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh.

The victory of the Congress candidate has become a matter of prestige for Siddaramaiah as he was elected from Varuna assembly segment which is part of his home district Mysuru Though there are hints of Yathindra Siddaramaiah contesting from Mysuru – Kodagu LS constituency, his name was not found in the list sent by the District Congress Committee to their party high command.

The fourteen aspirants who have applied for the Congress ticket are District Congress president B J Vijaykumar, KPCC spokesperson M M Lakshman, former president of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) C Basavegowda, KPCC Secretary C Gurupadaswamy, advocate Chandramouli, former MLA M K Somashekhar, former minister A H Vishwanath, KPCC vice -president Suraj Hegde who is also the grandson of former chief minister D Devaraj Urs, Dr Sushruthgowda, J J Anand, Varuna Mahesh, Gurumallesh and others.

As many as eight assembly segments including six assembly constituencies of Mysuru district come under Mysuru- Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency.

They are Krishnaraja, Chamaraja, Narasimharaja, Chamundeshwari, Periyapatna and Hunsur assembly constituencies. The other two assembly segments are Virajpet and Madikeri of Kodagu district.

Of the eight assembly segments in Mysuru- Kodagu LS constituency, Congress has won five seats, JD(S) two and BJP in one. Congress leaders say that the party candidate is in an advantageous position as it has five MLAs from Chamaraja, Narasimharaja, Periyapatna, Madikeri and Virajpet assembly constituencies.

As the BJP strength has come down to one MLA because of its weak performance in the assembly polls, Congress leaders claims they have a better chance of winning the Mysuru- Kodagu seat.

As there is a BJP- JD(S) tie-up for the upcoming polls, both JD(S) and BJP leaders have been preparing for the election.

Former minister G T Devegowda and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy are said to be trying to convince the BJP high command to field its candidate, former minister Sa Ra Mahesh from Mysuru- Kodagu as it is dominated by Vokkaliga community voters.

Discussions are also on about shifting sitting BJP MP Pratap Simha to another LS constituency instead of Mysuru- Kodagu in case the BJP-JDS agree on it.

A clear picture on whether Mysuru will have a BJP or JD(S) candidate will emerge after the Sankranthi festival, said sources in both parties.

District Congress President B J Vijaykumar said Congress has secured more than 62 percent of votes in all eight assembly segments in the LS constituency.