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HM Revanna banking heavily on DK brothers, Siddaramaiah for win

Mr Revanna claims he did not expect to contest the coming elections to the state assembly.

Bengaluru: He claims he did not expect to contest the coming elections to the state assembly. But now that he is, Transport Minister H M Revanna admits he is banking heavily on Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar and MP, D.K. Suresh besides the achievements of the Siddaramaiah government to see him through in Channapatna constituency, where he is up against State Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Kumaraswamy and four-time MLA C.P. Yogeshwar. Excerpts from an interview.

Had you planned to contest the assembly polls?
It came as a surprise as I never intended to contest the assembly elections. In fact, I did not even seek a ticket. A few months ago, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asked me to concentrate on the campaign in at least 25 to 30 constituencies and put me in-charge of Raichur district. But all of a sudden, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Mr D K Shivakumar wanted me to take on Mr Yogeshwar, who has a habit of changing parties every election.

Don't you think you will feel an outsider in Channapatna constituency?
Not at all. Before delimitation of constituencies, I contested from Magadi in Bengaluru Rural and won. I had asked for Mahalakshmi Layout in Bengaluru and got Channapatna. It does not matter as I have the support of the DK brothers and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Since the DK brothers have absolute control of the newly created Ramanagaram district, I have a good chance of winning.

But Channapatna constituency is likely to see a fierce battle between two heavyweights. What are your chances?
If being fat is 'heavyweight,' I also fall into the category (laughs). Mr Yogeshwar has earned the nickname 'turncoat' thanks to his constant party hopping during elections. He is so arrogant that he has not bothered to visit the constituency even once in a year. He must realise that you can fool people once but not every time. As for Mr Kumaraswamy, people want to know why he is contesting from two adjoining constituencies, Ramanagaram and Channapatna.

Will the fact that there are a greater number of Vokkaligas and fewer Kurubas in Channapatna work against you?
Not at all. While there are 96,000 Vokkaliga voters, there are nearly 1.2 lakh AHINDA voters, who are traditionally with the Congress. Also, I have a secular image and people from all castes and communities love me.

What are your advantages?
The good work done by CM Siddaramaiah and the development work carried out by Mr Shivakumar and Mr Suresh.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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