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The Congress chief has tied up with CP Yogeshwar, who played a key role in defeating his brother DK Suresh in the Lok Sabha election from the Bangalore Rural seat
The combined strength of DK Shivakumar and CP Yogeshwar will put pressure on Kumaraswamy in this Vokkaliga-dominated constituency. (X)
Old rivals in Karnataka Congress, president DK Shivakumar and CP Yogeshwar — who resigned from the BJP two days ago — have now ganged up to take on Union minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy in the by-election to the Channapatna assembly seat.
Shivakumar seems to have forgotten that Yogeshwar played a key role in defeating his brother, DK Suresh, in the Lok Sabha election from the Bangalore Rural seat. Both leaders seem to be playing the proverbial ‘enemy’s enemy is my friend’ card to challenge Kumaraswamy in the very seat that the JDS won in the assembly polls in 2023.
Shivakumar was forthright in his opening remarks at a press conference soon after admitting Yogeshwar into the party as he said: “Politics is the art of the possible”.
The Karnataka Congress chief said: “Congress blood flows in the veins of CP Yogeshwar. He started his politics from Congress. He met me and said he would like to come back to the party fold and resume his political career once again. He wants to be a Congressman again after being in the NDA for some time.”
Yogeshwar had pushed the BJP leadership hard by refusing to accept the proposal of party chief JP Nadda to contest as a JDS candidate. While Kumaraswamy had grudgingly agreed to the proposal to maintain the alliance with BJP, Yogeshwar declined it and insisted on getting the BJP nomination.
“I have bent down to the ground. How much lower should I bend? There is a limit to my patience and tolerance. There is no question of making a decision contrary to the sentiments of the workers on the Channapatna candidate issue,” Kumaraswamy had said.
Early on Wednesday, Shivakumar and Yogeshwar went to the residence of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah where Yogeshwar sought his blessings by touching his feet. Siddaramaiah had publicly stated that anyone who follows the ideals of Congress is welcome to join the party.
So why is Yogeshwar important for the Congress?
Yogeshwar is a five-time MLA who contested his first election as an Independent candidate in 1999. In 2004 and 2008, he contested the assembly elections on a Congress ticket. In 2011, he shifted to the BJP, contested on the party ticket and won the Channapatna by-election. In 2013, he contested as a candidate of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi party and defeated Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of HD Kumaraswamy. He went back to the BJP in 2023 to lose the seat to Kumaraswamy.
“Despite shifting from one party to another, Yogeshwar’s biggest plus point is that he has a solid hold over 40-45,000 votes in the Channapatna constituency. This is what makes him important,” a senior Congress leader told News18.
Shivakumar also recollected how Yogeshwar worked with the JDS to elect the NDA candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. “Political equations have changed and hence, he came back to the Congress party,” said Shivakumar.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Channapatna is one assembly segment in the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat where DK Suresh secured 84,000 votes when he contested against BJP candidate and Kumaraswamy’s brother-in-law Dr CN Manjunath. Suresh trailed behind Manjunath by almost 16,000 votes.
The other primary reason for Shivakumar and Yogeshwar to come together is that their combined strength will put pressure on Kumaraswamy in this Vokkaliga-dominated constituency.
Kumaraswamy, after a meeting with JDS leaders and workers of Channapatna in Bengaluru, said: “I have no fear of by-elections. No one in this state has faced as many by-elections as I have and handled them successfully. I have faced various elections and trials by fire. Do you think I would fear facing the Channapatna election? That is impossible.”
However, Kumaraswamy is yet to decide who will contest against Yogeshwar. Initially, party workers spoke of Nikhil Kumaraswamy being the party candidate. However, when Yogeshwar insisted on being the candidate of the BJP, Kumaraswamy was in a fix. Now, it is learnt that there is a possibility of either Anitha Kumaraswamy or Kumaraswamy’s sister Anusuya — who is also the wife of Bangalore Rural MP Dr CN Manjunath — being fielded from the seat.
Meanwhile, according to Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, Yogeshwar has ruined his political future by joining the Congress.
“All BJP leaders, including me, supported him and tried our best to get him a ticket. He has betrayed the party by leaving the BJP. Yogeshwar had seniority in the BJP, but by joining the Congress he is standing in the last row. No one in the Congress will allow him to progress,” said Ashoka, adding that the final decision on who will contest from Channapatna is up to Kumaraswamy.
