Ramanagara BJP candidate does U-turn, pledges support to CM's wife Anitha Kumaraswamy

BENGALURU: L Chandrashekar, the BJP candidate for the assembly constituency of Ramanagara in Karnataka announced his retreat from the contest two days ahead of the bypolls in a U-turn that has shocked the BJP, and sending the JD(S)-Congress camp into a jubilant mood.

The BJP candidate announced his decision to the media accompanied by D.K.Suresh, the Congress Lok Sabha member of the Bangalore Rural, who orchestrated the crossover.

The BJP workers, who campaigned for him all these days, expressed their frustration and anger at the sudden changing of stripes by their leader. They held protest demonstrations in Ramanagara, and put up posters accusing him of backstabbing the party, and some even “mourning” him for what they saw as a “treachery”. Some even urged the BJP national leaders to act firmly against all those state BJP leaders who are responsible for the current mess in Ramanagara.

The State BJP had not reacted at the time of writing this copy, and Union Minister D.V.Sadananda Gowda told a TV channel that Chandrashekar had succumbed to his greed by switching over to the Congress.

Chandrashekar, son of Ramanagar district Congress committee president C.M.Lingappa, has returned to the Congress fold and announced his support to JD(S) candidate Anitha Kumaraswamy. She is the wife of Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy, and enjoys support of the Congress as the coalition regime has fielded common candidates in the three Lok Sabha and two Assembly constituencies that are facing bypolls on November 3.

Suresh is leading the campaign, and has demonstrated his election management skills by snapping at the BJP in a way the party was least prepared for. Until the JD(S) and the Congress came together in May second week, the two parties were big time rivals, and Kumaraswamy-Anitha and DK brothers, as minister D K.Shivakuamar and MP D K Suresh are called, were sworn enemies. The coalition politics has brought about a new bonhomie between HDK and DK families, and Suresh is leaving no stones unturned to ensure Anitha’s win by a big margin.

It does not need political punditry to predict a win for Anitha as her husband won the seat in May 12 bypolls, but chose to retain the neighbouring Channapattana. In Ramanagara, only the Congress and the JD(S) have large numbers of grassroots workers. Chandrashekar’s swift and surprising move will no way alter polls results, except that it will swing some more votes in favour of the JD(S). But the development has dealt a psychological blow to the BJP ahead of the crucial bypolls.

For his part, the BJP candidate has blamed the party leaders, and accused them of leaving him in the lurch by not actively campaigning for him in the constituency. They have not been seeking votes for him which, he said, has shocked him, forcing him to retreat from the fray.