Shivamogga: The battle of the sons has returned to Shivamogga just six months after the 2018 Lok Sabha bypoll from the constituency. While Madhu Bangarappa, son of the late former Chief Minister , S Bangarappa lost to B.Y. Raghavendra, son of former Chief Minister, B S Yeddurappa of the BJP in the bypoll, the coalition partners remain upbeat about his chances these parliamentary elections.
B.Y. Raghavendra
They are hedging their bets on the fact that Mr Raghavendra's win in 2018 was not very convincing with his victory margin falling 50,000 short of his father's 3,63,305 votes in 2014.
Encouraged by the close finish, the coalition partners in the government decided to field Mr Madhu Bangarappa again to challenge him. Unfazed, president of the BJP's Shivamogga unit contends the slide in the party's victory margin last year was a result of the low voting percentage in the constituency and says the workers have been told to make sure more voters turn out this time to help the party perform better.
Appreciating Mr Raghavendra's performance, he says in the short time he has been MP, he brought in new railway lines and built a bridge in Singadhoor in his constituency.
To the disadvantage of the Congress, it doesn't appear to hold much sway over the voters in Shivamogga anymore despite having been a force to reckon with in the past. But its district chief, Sundresh, claims that despite the BJP's growing influence in the district in recent years, the Congress' voter base remains intact and it only needs to capitalise on it. Uniting with the JD(S) to take on the BJP could fetch it the victory it is looking for, he argues.
However, adding to the problems of the coalition partners, their workers are refusing to work together in the Bhadra vathi, Theertahalli and Shikari pura assembly segments of the constituency.
And the BJP does have the advantage of having seven MLAs in the district as against the Congress's one, and the JD(S)'s zero tally.
