Udupi-Chikmagalur: Will it be Haladi Srinivasa Shetty or DV Sadananda Gowda for BJP?
Bangalore: Like the ruling Congress, the BJP has launched a search for winnable candidates, particularly for constituencies such as Udupi-Chikmagalur, in the run-up to next year's Lok Sabha polls.
Sources in BJP told Deccan Chronicle that state leaders are keen to field a candidate with a clean image in order to wrest the Udupi-Chikmagalur seat from the Congress.
In the bypoll held in March 2012, former minister and Congress candidate K. Jayaprakash Hegde won by an impressive margin of 45, 724 votes over V Sunil Kumar of BJP.
The seat was vacated by D.V. Sadananda Gowda following his election as the Chief Minister.
Unlike the past, the BJP would bank on the charisma of its PM candidate Narendra Modi to wrest the seat from the ruling party.
With functionaries of RSS too keen to regain the seat, leaders of the state BJP have set out to identify the ideal candidate for this seat.
The sources said following a suggestion from the district unit, senior leaders have approached Haladi Srinivasa Shetty, an independent MLA from Kundapura constituency, who quit the BJP in 2012 following the party's decision to deny him a place in Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar's cabinet.
Besides, the leaders also factored in his popularity both in coastal and Malnad districts. Shetty, however, declined to return to the party though he assured to support the BJP in case a candidate with a clean image was chosen for Udupi-Chikmagalur.
When contacted, Shetty confirmed that BJP leaders had approached him to a request to contest from Udupi-Chikmagalur. "I refused to join the BJP. I will take a decision on whether to support BJP once they finalize the candidate", he added.
The sources said next on the list of potential candidates, former minister C.T. Ravi, who represents Chikmagalur, has significant following among young voters of the coastal district.
However, Ravi has not decided to contest Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, Sadananda Gowda, the natural choice for this seat, has set his sights on Bangalore (North) even as party workers are keen that he enters the fray either in Mysore or Chikaballapur.
Sources said he would contest from Udupi-Chikmagalur if the party decides against fielding him from Bangalore (North).
