Bengaluru: BJP state president, B.S.Yeddyurappa, has instructed party leaders to work hard to defeat the JD(S) in the coming bypolls as he believes the Congress has thrown in the towel already, according to party sources.
Mr Yeddyurapppa has reportedly made it clear to party workers that they should focus on winning all three Lok Sabha bypolls and give a tough fight to the JD(S) in the Ramanagara assembly byelection, where Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy’s wife, Anitha is in the fray.
Aware that a win from Mandya, could prove a huge jolt to the coalition government in the state, the BJP plans to approach local Congress leaders, who are unhappy with their party giving away the ticket to Mr L.R. Shivaramegowda of the JD(S) and persuade them to back its candidate instead.
Senior BJP leader, R Ashok, who is in charge of the party’s campaign in Mandya, has been given the task of persuading the disgruntled Congressmen, Chelurayaswamy, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda and Athmananda, who have decided to boycott the bypoll in protest, to support the saffron party’s candidate, Dr. Siddaramaiah, going by sources.
Mr Yeddyurappa has himself reportedly decided to spend more time in Mandya to woo voters as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president, Amit Shah too are keen on winning from the constituency, which has long been a bastion of the Congress. The BJP chief is prepared to spend more time campaigning in Mandya even at the cost of neglecting Shivamogha where his son, B.Y. Raghavendra is contesting, sources reveal.
