The byelection to the Ballari Lok Sabha seat is set to witness an ‘outsider versus insider’ battle, with three-time Congress MLC V.S. Ugrappa taking on J. Shanta, former MP and sister of B. Sriramulu, MLA. Both belong to the Nayaka (Valmiki) community.
It is believed that lack of consensus among the six legislators in the district Congress led to the choice of Mr. Ugrappa, who hails from a village in Pavagada of Tumakuru district. Mr. Ugrappa was among those who was vociferous against illegal mining in the district during the BJP regime (2008-13).
Ballari is not new to outsider candidates. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi fought against Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in 1999. However, Ms. Gandhi vacated the Ballari seat and retained Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP won this seat in 2004, 2009 and 2014.
Mr. Ugrappa, a law graduate, got the opportunity to contest the byelections because of his “clean” image and fluency in Telugu, which is expected to help him in appealing to the voters of Ballari. Moreover, his contribution to installing a Valmiki statue on the Vidhana Soudha premises should fetch him votes from the community, sources said.
Mr. Ugrappa had sought ticket to contest the 2018 Assembly elections, but the party did not field him as he was an MLC. Mr. Ugrappa contested in the 1989 and 1991 parliamentary elections, but lost on both occasions.
The Congress believes the ‘outsider’ tag will help Mr. Ugrappa in ensuring unity in the party and galvanising its workers. The central leadership chose Mr. Ugrappa over MLA B. Nagendra’s brother Venkatesh Prasad because of the MLC’s loyalty to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and district in-charge Minister D.K. Shivakumar, sources said.
Mr. Ugrappa told The Hindu that Mr. Sriramulu’s thrust on his being an outsider would not work since the BJP man himself had contested from Badami and Molakalmuru, which are outside Ballari, in the 2018 Assembly polls. Mr. Sriramulu lost in Badami but won in Molakalmuru, Chitradurga.
“Secular versus communal, corrupt BJP versus democratic Congress are my poll issues,” he said. “Moreover, the voters will be urged to punish Sriramulu for imposing bypolls at the end of the Lok Sabha term.”
