Yogeshwar closes gap on HDK in Channapatna

NT Correspondent

Ramanagara: With the disclosure of JD(S)’ final list, it has become clear that former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy meant it when he said he would only contest from Channapatna but many observers believe it could prove to be a miscalculation.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, Kumaraswamy contested from two seats: Channapatna and Ramanagara. He had vacated Ramanagara in favour of his wife Anitha. He had beaten BJP’s CP Yogeshwar by more than 21,000 votes in Channapatna.

However, this time around, Yogeshwar, fighting for his political life, has closed the gap. Congress takes up a marginalised third position in the constituency which is nearly 60 per cent Vokkaliga. It is to be noted that both Kumaraswamy and Yogeshwar are Vokkaligas.

Too many electors in Channapatna perceive Kumaraswamy as someone who doesn’t visit the constituency often enough. The grouse is that he visits Ramanagara district headquarters more often. The JD(S) legislature party leader has instead been travelling across the state under the banner of Pancharatna Rath Yatre, covering upwards of 90 Assembly seats.

Another issue is the perception that JD(S) is a Gowda family party that doesn’t allow for party workers to come up through the ranks through merit. On the other hand, Yogeshwar, who has represented Channapatna as MLA five times has been very busy in the segment, going door to door and hard-selling his lift irrigation projects: Garkalli and Kanva.

More than 70 lakes have been restored under the schemes and have quenched the thirst of villages in the taluka. His supporters go so far as to call him “Adhunika (modern day) Bhageeratha”, referring to the mythical king who is supposed to have brought down the river Ganges from the heavens to the earth in the form of a woman deity.

Yogeshwar began his political career in 1999 contesting from Channapatna as an independent and winning. He kept his seat in the next two terms: 2004 and 2008. He joined the BJP in 2009 and even contested Lok Sabha polls against Kumaraswamy and lost. In 2011, he won a by-poll and became the forest minister under the BJP government.

Yogeshwar won as a SP candidate from Channapattna in 2013 but left the party for Congress a year later. He exited from the Congress in the lead up to the 2018 Assembly polls, citing differences with KPCC president DK Shivakumar and his brother DK Suresh.