Channapatna (Karnataka), 24 Oct

Former Minister CP Yogeeshwara, who joined the Congress after quitting BJP, on Thursday filed his nomination as the grand old party's candidate for the 13 November Assembly by-poll from Channapatna, amid a show of strength.

He was accompanied by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, state Congress President and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and district in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy, among other party leaders.

Yogeeshwara along with Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, Reddy, former MP DK Suresh and several other Congress leaders held a massive road show in which a large number of party workers and supporters had gathered.

Yogeeshwara on Wednesday quit BJP and joined the Congress, hours before the party fielded him as its candidate from the high profile Channapatna segment.

Channapatna bypoll is necessitated as the seat fell vacant following the election of its representative -- JD(S) state President and now Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy -- to Lok Sabha from Mandya parliamentary segment.

The by-poll will see a straight contest between Congress and NDA partner JD(S), which is in an alliance with the BJP, in the segment.

Addressing the gathering, Yogeeshwara said Siddaramaiah's personal presence and blessings, and Shivakumar and Suresh's support and cooperation are a "big strength" for him.

"I have come before you as your candidate to join hands with Shivakumar in his efforts to develop the taluk....I appeal to you to make me win with a record margin to serve you," he said.

Siddaramaiah said Yogeeshwara is a popular leader in Channapatna and he has made efforts for the development of the constituency as a five time MLA and a Minister, and people acknowledge his work in filling up lakes in the taluk.

"Let whoever the JD(S) field as its candidate, let Kumaraswamy himself contest or let him field his son or wife, our candidate Yogeeshwara will win hundred per cent. He is a winning horse," he said.

Charging Kumaraswamy with "not doing anything for the development of Channapatna," the CM said: "he did not make visits to the constituency. Kumaraswamy is a central minister now, he is not going to any part of the country other than the Mandya segment he represents..."

Shivakumar said, the government is undertaking works to the tune of Rs 500 crore in Channapatna, adding, if the Congress candidate wins here, the segment can witness changes for good. "I request you to give Congress victory with a huge margin."

Hitting out at Kumaraswamy for quitting as Channapatna MLA and contesting Lok Sabha polls from Mandya, he said: "You (people) should ask him -- you were twice MLA from here and also became CM -- what have you done, release the list."

Ahead of joining Congress, Yogeeshwara, the actor-turned-politician, had appealed to leaders of the alliance to consider giving him a ticket from the saffron party. He had also said he had plans to contest as an independent if he didn't get the ticket.

There were plans to field Yogeeshwara on a JD(S) ticket, but he was not interested in it, sources said. "Instead, he wanted Kumaraswamy to support him as BJP candidate, which was not acceptable to the latter and his party.”

With this by-poll, "D K Brothers" -- Shivakumar and Suresh -- are hoping to regain Congress' ground in the Vokkaliga dominated region, which is their home turf, after the Lok Sabha poll debacle in which the latter lost to BJP-JD(S) joint candidate and Kumaraswamy's brother-in-law Dr C N Manjunath in Bangalore Rural, under which the Channapatna Assembly seat comes.

According to JD(S) sources, Kumaraswamy did not want to cede the Channapatna seat that he had represented to Yogeeshwara or BJP.

Kumaraswamy had won the Channapatna seat in 2018 and 2023. Before that Yogeeshwara had represented the seat from BJP and Samajwadi Party. He had earlier also represented the seat both as an independent and from the Congress.

Kumaraswamy's actor-turned-politician son Nikhil Kumaraswamy's name has been doing the rounds as JD(S)-BJP alliance's candidate for Channapatna seat. Nikhil had lost the 2023 Assembly polls from neighbouring Ramanagara.

Kumaraswamy had won Channapatna in the 2023 assembly polls, with 96,592 votes against Yogeeshwara (then in BJP) who got 80,677 votes. The Congress candidate had then secured 15,374 votes.-PTI

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