Hubballi: Janata Dal (Secular) leader, Basavaraj Horatti is banking on the rebel factor in the BJP to help him win a seventh consecutive term in the Legislative Council from the Karnataka West Teachers’ constituency.
Denied a ticket by the BJP, Mr M Kuberappa of the party is now contesting as a rebel. Although he failed to defeat Mr Horatti even on a BJP ticket in the last two elections, the JDS leader is reportedly hoping his entry will divide the saffron party’s vote and pave his way to victory in the coming poll.
With a large number of voters in the constituency hailing from Dharwad, the stronghold of the BJP, Mr Horatti has been campaigning vigorously to keep his votebank intact. JD(S) state president Kumaraswamy is also like to pitch in on his behalf on June 4.
"I am seeking votes on the basis of my work for the welfare of the teachers. I have a good support base here and will win by a huge margin,” Mr Horatti asserted
The BJP’s campaign is lacklustre by comparison with senior leader, Jagadish Shettar not showing up to campaign for party candidate, prof. M Nagaraj.
The Congress has fielded Mr T Eshwar who runs several education institutions in the constituency.
Ex-AP minister did it for Ramamurthy?
One candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls this time, who was not expected to make it to the Congress list, amidst a bevy of heavyweights is former IPS officer K.C. Ramamurthy. But he finally did, leaving a lot of others envious all because a former minister from Andhra Pradesh reportedly threw his weight behind CMR Group of Institutions chairman.
Mr Ramamurthy is the third candidate of the Congress for the June 11 election. The bureaucrat turned educationist has always been loyal to the Congress though there are many in the party who categorise him a businessman.
"He had tried hard to get the party ticket for Bengaluru North Lok Sabha constituency before the 2014 election.He missed it then. This time, his name was finalised almost a week ago in Delhi. There are party leaders who claim they got him the ticket which is an exaggerated claim. Of course, he made it because state Congress decided to field a third candidate, besides Oscar and Jairam Ramesh. To that extent, state leaders helped Mr Ramamurthy” sources added.
The Congress is leaving no stone unturned to ensure an easy passage for Mr Ramamurthy. Sources claimed five of the 40 JD(S) MLAs – Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, Zameer Ahmad Khan, Iqbal Ansari, H.D. Balakrishna and N. Cheluvarayaswamy – have pledged their support to the Congress, which is confident of the backing of 12 of the 16 legislators belonging to smaller parties and independents.
