In anticipation that the byelections may be declared soon for Channapatna, Shiggaon, and Sandur Assembly constituencies, hectic parleys are on between the Janata Dal (Secular) and the BJP, NDA constituents, for the politically-hot Channapatna seat.
With C.P. Yogeshwar, BJP MLC who has in the past represented Channapatna constituency five times, remaining adamant to contest, seat sharing between the two parties has become complicated. The seat fell vacant after the resignation of former Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy, who was elected to Lok Sabha from Mandya following which he was inducted into the Union Cabinet.
A seat held by JD(S)
JD(S) sources said the party had been asking for the seat since it had held the seat. “A meeting of the BJP and the JD(S) leaders took place at the residence of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday evening in Delhi. No headway could be made. There will be more meetings. We are expecting the elections to be declared in less than a fortnight,” said a source. JD(S) Channapatna taluk president Jayamuthu is being touted as a possible candidate, and Nikhil Kumaraswamy is most likely to step away from the contest, the source said.
JD(S) party sources said that Mr. Kumaraswamy has so far refused to meet Mr. Yogeshwar though BJP leaders have made efforts to bring them to the table in Delhi since Thursday. “Mr. Kumaraswamy is upset with the way Mr. Yogeshwar has behaved publicly. The JD(S)’ assessment is that despite the two parties being together, the Congress managed to get far more votes from Channapatna segment in the Lok Sabha elections than what the party polled in Assembly elections. Mr. Yogeshwar did not succeed in wielding his influence to get the BJP candidate the votes, JD(S) feels.”
Mr. Yogeshwar’s public statement that he was open to contest as an Independent has not gone down well with the top leadership of both the parties. In fact, Mr. Kumaraswamy left for Bengaluru on Friday night even though Mr. Yogeshwar and the BJP leaders are still camping there.
The source, however, conceded that if Mr. Yogeshwar contests as an Independent, the situation could get complicated since he has his own clout in the taluk as a localite. It is a prestige issue for the JD(S) ever since Mr. Yogeshwar publicly indicated that he would not mind contesting as an Independent.
Meeting in Delhi
On Friday, the delegation of BJP State leaders led by Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok took Mr. Yogeshwar to party national president J.P. Nadda. The State leaders are also concerned that any rebellion by Mr. Yogeshwar would show them in poor light.
While the Congress led by KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar has upped the ante in Channapatna with many manoeuvers in recent weeks, the NDA feels that it can comfortably sail through if there is a consensus candidate.
