Amidst intense lobbying for the ticket from the sons-in-law of Chamarajanagar MP V. Srinivas Prasad, the BJP leadership has announced a ticket to S. Balaraj, former MLA from Kollegal assembly constituency in the district, for Chamarajanagar (SC) constituency.
Mr. Balaraj’s candidature was announced in the second list of candidates the party released on Wednesday evening.
The announcement came as a surprise for many in the party circles.
Considered a loyalist of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Mr. Balaraj had joined the BJP, quitting the Congress after he was denied the party ticket to contest from Kollegal in last year’s assembly elections. Mr. Balaraj was confident of getting the ticket despite two aspirants from Mr. Prasad’s family.
The sons-in-law of Mr. Prasad – Mohan and former Nanjangud MLA Harshavardhan – were eyeing the ticket with Mr. Prasad, a prominent leader in the region, announcing to retire from electoral politics.
In view of intense lobbying within the family, State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra had recently met Mr. Prasad and apparently discussed the ticket issue although he described the visit as a “courtesy meeting”.
Nevertheless, the party has refused to consider ticket for the family members of Mr. Prasad.
The ticket announcement came as a surprise to Mr. Prasad’s followers as they were confident that one of the family members would get the ticket. With the ticket going to Mr. Balaraj, the party appears to have opted for a different strategy, bringing a new face in the electoral battle to retain the seat in the Congress’ bastion as Gundlupet, Kollegal, and Chamarajanagar assembly seats were held by the Congress party.
Despite many contenders for the ticket even though Mr. Prasad’s sons-in-law were the key contenders, the party gave the ticket to Mr. Balaraj, who had won the Kollegal seat as an independent, perhaps as part of its experiment to introduce new faces as done during the assembly polls.
Former Kollegal MLA and BJP leader Mahesh welcomed the party ticket to Mr. Balaraj and said the party leaders in the district will strive for his victory in the ensuing polls.
A staunch follower of former Minister Rajashekara Murthy, Mr. Balaraj quit the Congress and joined the BJP along Mr. Murthy. He has been active in politics since 1992. Mr. Balaraj later quit the BJP after he was denied a ticket for the assembly polls. He had unsuccessfully contested as KJP candidate from Kollegal.
Mr. Prasad, a veteran politician and prominent leader among the Dalits, had denied any rift over his sons-in-law lobbying for the ticket and had stated that whosoever is allotted ticket, everyone will work for the victory of the party.
Mr. Prasad had said that he will not take part in the election campaign in the Lok Sabha polls but will appeal to all to support the BJP.
Mr. Harshavardhan was elected from Nanjangud assembly seat in the 2018 elections but lost in 2023 to Mr. Darshan Dhruvanarayan, son of former MLA and former MP late R. Dhruvanarayan. Dr. Mohan was in the government service.
The Congress is yet to announce ticket for Chamarajanagar. It’s going to be a straight fight between the Congress and the BJP in the seat with the JD(S) aligning with the BJP.
