The transformation of Aruna Chandrashekhar Patil from a homemaker to a full-time politician may have been an accident. But Ms. Patil is no political novice.
“I have seen from close quarters my husband (the late Chandrashekhar Patil Revoor) fighting three Assembly elections… Now I am contesting the election to avenge the cut-throat politics of the BJP leadership,” she says.
The fire in her eyes reiterates her resolve to carry the fight to the BJP camp. “I do not know anything about politics, but I will not forget the way in which the BJP leaders deceived me and my son Dattatretya Patil Revoor and denied us the party ticket at the last minute.”
Sparing a few minutes from her busy door-to-door campaign, Ms. Patil told The Hindu : “Even in my wildest dream, I did not have any premonition that I would enter politics… The untimely death of my husband five months ago changed my life.”
Not mincing words while criticising the BJP leaders, Ms. Patil is at pains to explain the reasons for her contesting the byelection to the Legislative Assembly from Gulbarga South constituency on the Janata Dal (S) ticket. “My only aim is to expose the injustice done to my family by the BJP.”
“I pleaded with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and other senior leaders of the party to give me a chance to fight the election and allow me to serve the constituency for the remaining two-and-a-half years of the term. I even told them that our family would not seek re-nomination from the constituency in the next election and would stay away from politics.” She only wanted to complete the unfinished task of developing the constituency, she adds.
The Janata Dal (S) candidate is confident of showing the door to the BJP and the Congress candidates. “The response of the voters, particularly women, Muslims and Dalits has been overwhelming. I am thankful to the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for giving me and my family members a new life.”
