JD(S) clears Shivaramegowda for Mandya, Anitha for Ramanagara

BENGALURU/MANGALURU: The JD(S) on Sunday evening finalised its candidates for the Mandya and Shivamogga Lok Sabha seats and the Ramanagara assembly segment even as coalition partner Congress struggled to select a candidate for Ballari with just two days left for the filing of nominations.
JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda announced in Bengaluru on Sunday that former MLA L R Shivaramegowda will be the JD(S) candidate from the Mandya LS constituency and Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, the party’s contender in Ramanagara.
Kumaraswamy in Mangaluru told reporters that the party would field Madhu Bangarappa, son of former chief minister S Bangarappa, from the Shivamogga parliamentary seat.
The party came to a decision on the Mandya and Ramanagara candidates after a marathon meeting between Gowda, Kumaraswamy, minister C S Puttaraju and MLAs of Mandya district.
The decision has left former bureaucrat Lakshmi Ashwin Gowda fuming. Lakshmi, the perceived frontrunner for the Mandya seat, had declared herself as the candidate soon after Puttaraju resigned following his win in the assembly election from Melukote, claiming that Gowda had promised her the seat.
Sources said the party expects Shivaramegowda and Anitha to file their papers on Monday. Madhu is likely to file his nomination on Monday or Tuesday, they said.
Swaraj India, meanwhile, is considering the possibility of fielding Sunita, wife of late farmer leader K S Puttannaiah, from Mandya.
This could result in the JD(S) facing a stiff fight as Puttannaiah’s party enjoys considerable support in the district. Some Congress leaders including former minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, who is unhappy over the party leaving the Mandya seat to the JD(S), could support Sunita.
“A decision on Sunita will be taken on Monday,” said Shambunahalli Suresh, Mandya district president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha.
No consensus
The Congress, meanwhile, was on Sunday still struggling to reach a consensus on the party’s candidate for the Ballari Lok Sabha seat.
Party MLAs from the district are divided, sources said, with MLAs B Nagendra, Bheema Naik and others backing Nagendra’s elder brother Venkatesh Prasad, Hosapete MLA Anand Singh and others opposing Prasad’s name on the grounds that Nagendra will have the upper hand in district politics if his brother wins the seat. In the event, a compromise candidate party MLC V S Ugrappa could be the dark horse.
KPCC working president Eshwara Khandre said the party would finalise a candidate by Sunday evening but that did not happen.
MARATHON MISSTEP: Higher education minister G T Devegowda falls while running the Dasara Half Marathon in Mysuru on Sunday. Devegowda, wearing a ‘lungi’, suddenly lost balance and fell, sustaining minor injuries to the face and legs