C.H. Vijayshankar, former MP, has made a strong pitch for Congress to contest the Mysuru Lok Sabha seat and his suitability as the party candidate amid growing clamour in the JD(S) ranks to bargain for the constituency during the seat sharing exercise.
On the day JD(S) was holding a meeting of party workers from Mysuru and Chamarajanagar to discuss the party’s preparedness for the coming Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Vijayshankar, who quit the BJP and joined the Congress ahead of the last Assembly elections, expressed optimism that the Congress will not cede Mysuru Lok Sabha seat to coalition partner JD(S).
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Vijayshankar, a two-time BJP MP who represented Mysuru, said JD(S) has never won the Mysuru Lok Sabha seat. “If you look at the history of the elections in the constituency, Congress has won the seat on most occasions except thrice when BJP won. Even when BJP won, I was the candidate twice,” he said.
He hoped the Congress would retain Mysuru-Kodagu constituency among its share of Lok Sabha seats to contest as the region was part of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s bastion. “The JD(S) already has its two MLAs from the region representing Mysuru and Kodagu as district in charge Ministers – G.T. Deve Gowda and S.R. Mahesh. If the Congress does not stake claim over the seat, its relevance will be questioned,” he argued.
Ticket not assured
When asked whether he had been assured of a Congress ticket to contest Mysuru Lok Sabha seat before joining the party, Mr. Vijayshankar said Mr. Siddaramaiah had said that his candidature would be kept in mind while the party selects is nominees for the seat.
“I was told that the party will not be able to field me either in Hunsur or Periyapatna, where the sitting Congress MLAs had to be given tickets. But, I am quite hopeful that the party will field me as its candidate,” Mr. Vijayshankar said.
Mr. Vijayshankar’s claim over Mysuru Lok Sabha seat comes in the wake of Minister in charge of Mysuru district G.T. Deve Gowda expressing hope that the JD(S) will field its candidate in Mysuru as the party has a strong base in the region. The JD(S) had won five out of eleven seats in Mysuru district, which is predominated by Vokkaligas.
Mr. Vijayshankar, also a former Minister, had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as the BJP candidate from Hassan after the party leadership chose Pratap Simha as its candidate for Mysuru seat.
