Hassan: State president of the BJP and former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa came rushing to Hassan, the home turf of his political bête noire former PM H.D. Deve Gowda, on Monday and received a rousing welcome from party workers who turned out in large numbers on the streets of the city to support BJP nominee and former minister A. Manju who filed his papers for the Hassan LS seat.
Mr Manju filed his nomination at the Deputy Commissioner's office where DC Akram Pasha received the papers. Mr Deve Gowda is the sitting Lok Sabha member and has shifted from Hassan to Tumakuru, making way for his grandson Prajwal Revanna to contest from Hassan.
The presence of Yeddyurappa at Manju's rally evoked huge enthusiasm among BJP workers who shouted slogans like 'Modi.. Modi.. Yeddyurappa Ki Jai' and 'Manju Jai.' Along the procession route, BJP workers waved party flags while supporters followed the rally in tractors and some in bullock carts. The heavy turnout of BJP supporters in Hassan, the bastion of Deve Gowda, is a significant show of strength by the saffron party which is set to pose a formidable challenge to the JD(S) candidate Prajwal. The BJP rally began from Hemavathy statue and on reaching NR Circle, Yeddyurappa addressed the gathering where he called upon voters of Hassan to end dynastic politics in an oblique reference to the Deve Gowda family. In Hassan and Mandya, the grandsons of Deve Gowda- Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy are contesting on JD(S) tickets. Though Yeddyurappa was present in the rally, he was not present at the DC's office when Manju file his papers.
Yeddyurappa also exuded confidence that Modi would be back as Prime Minister again.
Later, at a press conference, the BJP state president said that voters of Hassan would teach a lesson to the Deve Gowda family in the forthcoming election.
