BENGALURU: In 2004, she made headlines when she accompanied her father and Chief Minister S.M. Krishna during his campaign tour of Chamarajpet Assembly constituency, but almost a decade-and-half later Shambhavi could be back, set to endure the dust and grime of electoral politics. For, in a significant development, BJP leaders are likely to pick her as the candidate for either Yeshwanthpur or Chamarajpet constituencies. The likelihood of Mrs Shambhavi Hingorani making her debut in electoral politics emerged at the end of a meeting between Union minister H.N. Ananth Kumar, BJP Karnataka in charge P. Muralidhar Rao and Mr Krishna at the latter’s residence on Friday.
Sources in the state unit of BJP said the strategy behind Shambhavi's candidature would be to help the party gain from division of votes of minorities with the ruling Congress and JD (S) set to field Zameer Ahmed Khan and Altaf Khan respectively in Chamarajpet. In Yeshwanthpur, a constituency with significant number of Vokkaliga voters, the BJP aims to wrest the seat earlier held by Ms Shobha Karandlaje before she was elected to Lok Sabha. In 2013, Mr S T Somashekhar, also a Vokkaliga, won on a Congress ticket.
Sources said Mr Krishna's USP as the man who transformed the city into the IT capital is something the BJP will use to woo the aspirational young voter.
The former foreign minister has agreed to campaign in Bengaluru besides evincing interest in fielding good candidates in Mandya and Mysuru districts. The octogenarian has already held meetings with powerful Vokkaliga leaders in Mandya district, sources added.
