Pressure on Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah, son to fight from Mysuru-Kodagu

Mysuru: Now that the Mysuru-Kodagu constituency has been retained by the Congress in its seat-sharing arrangement with the Janata Dal (S), pressure is now mounting on former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to contest from it or field his son, Dr S Yathindra from it. But although Mr Siddaramaiah reportedly fought for Mysuru remaining with the Congress , Dr Yathindra ruled out the possibility of either his father or he contesting the coming Lok Sabha poll.

Meanwhile, two term MP from the constituency, C H Vijayshankar, 63, who hails from the Kuruba community that Mr Siddaramaiah also belongs to, is once again hoping to get the ticket as is the head of the district Congress committee, B J Vijakumar, 40, a Vokkaliga.

Son of a farmer from Boothnalli in Periyapatna taluk, Mr Vijaykumar calls himself a progressive farmer. " I understand the problems of the farmers and can respond to their problems better. Having been part of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) of the Congress, I have participated in several students movements and so I understand the youth too," he says, spelling out his eligibility for the ticket.

Mr Brijesh Kalappa from the Kodava community and Devraj Urs's grandson, Sooraj Hegde from the backward classes community are also reportedly eyeing a ticket from the constituency.

The KPCC screening committee has passed on the names of all four aspirants to the AICC screening committee, according to sources.