Udupi: State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa is unlikely to have his way in shifting Union minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency and its MP Shobha Karandlaje to his (Sadananda Gowda’s) constituency, Bengaluru north, as Mr Gowda is reportedly not keen to return to the constituency he had quit when appointed Chief Minister in 2011.
Besides, Ms Karandlaje has already started the groundwork for the Lok Sabha poll in Chikkamagaluru district, say sources.
“Despite some leaders being unhappy with Shobha here, she could win again on the Modi wave. However, if the party fielded somebody else the margin could be more,” said a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader.
The Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency, which was formed during the delimitation in 2004 by merging the two constituencies, has voted for the BJP for some years now.
When Mr Sadananda Gowda, who won from here in 2009 , resigned in 2011 to become Chief Minister, Mr Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress won the byelection that followed in 2012, but he was defeated by Ms Karandlaje in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll.
She could be up against a woman Congress candidate this time, Arathi Krishna, who is seen as the favourite, although the names of Mr B K Hariprasad and Mr Vinay Kumar Sorake too are making the rounds in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru.
“Arathi Krishna, who is the secretary of the Indian Overseas Congress, is the most suitable candidate as she hails from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, and is a Vokkaliga. Also, this is the only constituency where the Congress can field a woman,” said a party leader, also noting that Ms Krishna was highly educated and the daughter of influential Vokkaliga leader, Begane Ramaiah, who is a former MLA of Sringeri and an ex-minister.
