Janata Dal (Secular) candidate from Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency and actor Shivarajkumar’s wife Geeta Shivarajkumar has said that she is entering electoral politics to continue the political legacy of her father late S. Bangarappa.
Ms. Shivarajkumar, who joined the Janata Dal(S) in Shimoga on Monday, in an interaction with the media here on Tuesday, said that her aim was to complete her father’s “unfinished work”. After having seen her father serve people earlier, she had taken the decision to carry forward Bangarappa’s legacy by contesting in elections at a “critical juncture” in the country’s politics, she added.
Though new to real-time politics, she had acquired knowledge about society and people from her father and father-in-law and thespian late Rajkumar, she said.
After the Janata Dal(S) decided to field one member from Bangarappa’s family in the 2014 general elections, she was persuaded by her mother, Shakuntala Bangarappa, to take up the challenge, Ms. Shivarajkumar said.
Asserting that she was capable of facing any challenge, she said that her father’s contribution to Shimoga constituency and the blessings of the people would see her through.
On the various issues in the constituency, she said that she was aware of some important issues, including the completion of work on the Upper Bhadra project, the Dandavati project, power scarcity, the plight of areca growers and bagair hukum farmers.
To a question, she said that she was considering the presence of her opponents from the Congress and the BJP in the poll fray seriously. Also, she was not afraid of taking on the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, she added.
And, she denied the charge that she was an outsider to the district, saying that she was born and brought up in Shimoga district.
