Bengaluru: Is Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy set to become Janata Dal (Secular) candidate for Ramanagara assembly constituency? The answer could be yes going by the fact that she has been accompanying her husband to the constituency and has also been receiving petitions from the general public on his behalf during the launch of various schemes.
Mr Kumaraswamy who had contested from Ramanagara and Channapatna in the recent Assembly polls, won from both seats but resigned from the Ramanagara seat. This necessitated a byelection to the seat. Anita had made her political debut successfully contesting from Madhugiri seat in Tumakuru district on a JD(S) ticket. In 2008, she contested from Channapatna and lost to Mr C.P. Yogeshwar who contested on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
Subsequently, in 2013, she made a futile bid to enter the Lok Sabha on a JD(S) ticket, and was backed by the BJP but lost to Congress candidate Mr D.K. Suresh, brother of powerful Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar. Having lost two elections in a row, Ms Anitha has been maintaining a low profile. Rumours were rife that she may try her luck from Channapatna again in the just concluded Assembly polls but her hopes were dashed by her father- in-law and party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda who said only two members from his family-Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy and Mr H.D. Revanna would contest the Assembly elections.
With her husband vacating the Ramanagara seat, party workers want her to contest from there. Besides, with the Congress and JD(S) forming a coalition government, she is confident of winning from the historic town that shot into fame following the shooting of the Hindi hit ‘Sholay’ in the 1970s. In the changed scenario, Mr Shivakumar may wield his influence to get her elected to the Assembly too. Though there was talk of Mr Shivakumar' s relative contesting the bypoll, the idea seems to have been dropped.
Top sources told Deccan Chronicle that Ms Anitha 's candidature for Ramanagara has almost been finalised and would be announced after the date for the bypoll is declared. With no suitable candidate available, the BJP is reportedly mounting pressure on Mr Yogeshwar to contest from Ramanagara. But he is said to be reluctant after the drubbing he received in the Assembly polls in Chennapatna at the hands of Mr Kumaraswamy. Mr Yogeshwar is the common enemy of both Mr Shivakumar and Mr Kumaraswamy and the duo would try to defeat him at any cost. The sources said it may not be surprising if Mr Shivakumar campaigns for Ms Anitha with an eye on increasing his popularity in Vokkaliga dominated districts in South Karnataka.
