Will the BJP choose former Minister V. Srinivas Prasad’s son-in-law Harsh Vardhan as its candidate from Nanjangud Reserved Assembly constituency?
While Mr. Prasad, who lost the by-elections to Nanjangud Assembly constituency last year has announced his retirement from electoral politics, Mr. Harsh Vardhan told The Hindu that he is an aspirant for BJP ticket from the constituency represented by his father-in-law.
Mr. Prasad had successfully contested from Nanjangud Assembly constituency in the 2008 and 2013 polls before losing to Mr. Kalale Keshavamurthy of the Congress in the April 2017 by-polls. Though senior BJP leaders are believed to have requested Mr. Prasad to reconsider his retirement and contest from the constituency in the coming elections, the veteran is understood to have communicated to the party leadership to field his son-in-law instead.
Mr. Harsh Vardhan, who was with the Congress and campaigned for his father-in-law during the 2013 Assembly elections, is now the vice-president of BJP’s Yuva Morcha in the State.
Mr. Prasad, a veteran Dalit leader, who joined the BJP after quitting Congress in the wake of his differences with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has sought party tickets for his followers in some of the constituencies in Mysuru. Sources close to Mr. Prasad said he has favoured Mr. Harsh Vardhan from Nanjangud constituency and his follower and former Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) chairman Mohan Kumar from Krishnaraja constituency. Sources in the BJP have also confirmed that Mr. Harsh Vardhan was in the race for the party ticket for Nanjangud along with former Minister M. Shivanna.The proposal to field Mr. Harsh Vardhan from Nanjangud by the BJP comes even as former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa’s son B.Y. Vijayendra has been projected as the party’s candidate for Varuna Assembly constituency.
