Old rivals who fought against one another in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in the Chamarajanagar (Reserved) constituency are likely to clash once again in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the segment.
Congress MP R. Dhruvanarayan, A.R. Krishnamurthy of the BJP and M. Shivanna of Janata Dal (Secular) fought the 2009 elections with Mr. Dhruvanarayan emerging the winner by a margin of 4,002 votes against Mr. Krishnamurthy.
Mr. Dhruvanarayan appears to be the most likely candidate and would seek re-election for the second term as the Congress is keen on giving ticket to incumbent MPs. Moreover, there are no contenders in the party for ticket in this segment.
Mr. Dhruvanarayan is also the preferred choice of the senior party leaders.
In the BJP too, though Mr. Krishnamurthy, son of the former Governor late B. Rachaiah, has emerged as the first choice to take on Mr. Dhruvanarayan, other aspirants are seriously lobbying for party ticket. They include S. Mahadevaiah, the former Kollegal MLAs S. Balaraj and G.N. Nanjundaswamy.
With the return of the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to the BJP, his supporters are also lobbying for ticket in this constituency. While Mr. Mahadevaiah unsuccessfully contested from Nanjangud (Reserved) Assembly constituency on Karnataka Janata Paksha ticket, Mr. Balaraj, also a KJP candidate, lost to the Congress in Kollegal (Reserved).
If Mr. Krishnamurthy manages to get party ticket, it will be a battle among the old rivals from the three major parties, as barring Mr. Shivanna, a former Minister, there are no ticket aspirants in the Janata Da(S).
The Janata Dal(S), which is in the forefront of forging an alternative to the Congress and the BJP at the national level, is likely to field Mr. Shivanna again.
Janata Dal(S) MLA G.T. Deve Gowda told The Hindu that there were no contenders for the Chamarajanagar ticket in the party and Mr. Shivanna, a former Heggadadevankote MLA, is almost certain to be the candidate.
When asked, a Congress leader said: “There are no ticket aspirants for Chamarajanagar due to the party’s stand on fielding incumbent MPs.”
The mood is upbeat in the BJP with the return of Mr. Yeddyurappa, but the party has the challenge of persuading the aspirants before picking a winnable candidate.
Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency has four Assembly segments each from Chamarajanagar and Mysore districts. Barring Heggadadevankote (reserved), all seven segments are held by the Congress. One of the constituencies, Varuna, is represented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Minister for Revenue V. Srinivas Prasad, who won five times from the Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency, represents Nanjangud (Reserved) constituency.
