Kalaburagi: A rising leader, Mr Sharangouda Patil, son of Janata Dal (Secular) MLA from Gurmitkal, Nagangouda Kandakur, may have become a “hero” in the eyes of JD(S) legislators for clandestinely recording the conversation between him and state BJP chief, B S Yeddyurappa at the Devadurga guesthouse, but it’s believed he may have dented his own political career in the process.
By taking on the BJP Lingayat strongman he may have lost the support of his own Reddy Lingayat community in the Hyderabad Karnataka region, according to some leaders.
“One of the major factors responsible for the victory of Mr Nagangouda in the recent Assembly election was the support he received from the Reddy community leaders. Mr Sharangouda, who was tipped to take over the mantle from his father in the next Assembly election, has by his impetuous act of trying to implicate another Lingayat leader alienated his community in the constituency,” says a senior political analyst.
For the people of Gurmitkal constituency, Mr Sharangouda is already the “de facto” legislator with officers and voters alike turning to him with their problems. “After his father’s narrow defeat in the 2013 Assembly election, Mr Sharangouda had vowed not to accept either garlands or shawls from anybody till he made his father a legislator.
“The padayatra that he took from Yeragol to Saidapur, covering major portions of the constituency just a couple of weeks before polling in 2018, was a turning point not in the victory of his father, and catapulted him as the future leader of the Gurmitkal constituency. But he may have just jeopardised this,” says a senior leader.
It’s also believed that audiogate may have put Mr Yeddyurappa on the spot for the time being, but will not cause him much political harm.
On the other hand, Mr Sharangouda could pay a heavy price for playing into the hands of the Deve Gowda family, warns an observer.
