Former Minister A.H. Vishwanath on Thursday declared himself the candidate for the bypolls to Hunsur Assembly constituency scheduled for December 5.
He was reacting angrily to a statement made by JD(S) leader S.R. Mahesh that Mr. Vishwanath had “sold” his ticket and the BJP would not field him in the bypolls.
Mr. Vishwanath’s assertion assumes curiosity as the Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition against his disqualification by former Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar, is yet to deliver its judgment. Mr. Ramesh Kumar had disqualified Mr. Vishwanath and 16 other former MLAs till the conclusion of the present term of Assembly.
Mr. Vishwanath, who had so far maintained that any decision on his entry into the poll fray will depend on the Supreme Court ruling, threw caution to the winds on Thursday and declared his candidature from Hunsur. It may also be mentioned here that Mr Vishwanath, after his resignation from the Assembly, had declared that he would retire from electoral politics.
Mr Vishwanath further added that he will not finish third in the race like Mr Mahesh had predicted. The third position has been reserved for JD (S) in the by-polls and Mr Mahesh is solely responsible for the party’s poor condition in the region, he added.
Mr Vishwanath also suspected that Mr S R Mahesh, a former Minister and JD (S) MLA representing K R Nagar assembly segment, was indulging in a drama by submitting his resignation to the Assembly.
Mr Mahesh had on Wednesday claimed that he had submitted his resignation to the Assembly last month hurt over the personal allegations and his character assassination by Mr Vishwanath.
Mr Vishwanath, meanwhile, said he would also take up a legal battle against Mr Mahesh for tarnishing his public image, built assiduously through honesty and public service for the last 40 years.
