Yogeshwar may take on DK Suresh in Bengaluru Rural

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar and his brother DK Suresh have found a challenge from unexpected quarters in JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy and former foe and BJP leader CP Yogeshwar.

Yogeshwar, who has represented Channapatna as MLA five times, lost to Kumaraswamy twice from the segment, first in 2018 and then back in May earlier this year.

However, the two leaders appear to have set aside their rivalry and work together since the JD(S) and BJP have announced a pre-poll alliance for next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Apparently, Yogeshwar has been trying to convince Kumaraswamy to give up JD(S)’ claim on Bengaluru Rural in the seat sharing talks so that he could contest from the constituency against Suresh.

The BJP leader is of the opinion that he could outperform Suresh at the ballot with the combined forces of the saffron party and JD(S) behind him.

BJP man looking to turn it around

An actor-turned politician, Yogeshwar is trying to recover from two consecutive losses from Channapattna. He 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 had 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 also won as a Samajwadi Party candidate from Channapattna in 2013 contesting against Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha, 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 Shivakumar and his brother.

Yogeshwar played a key role in toppling the Kumaraswamy-led coalition government back in 2019 and is looking to deal even more damage to his rivals, the DK brothers come Lok Sabha poll time.