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Friday, March 29 2024
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Tumakuru

Karnataka Congress to recommend T B Jayachandra’s name for Sira bypolls

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Tumakuru: The Congress in Karnataka, on Wednesday, said it will recommend former Minister T B Jayachandra’s name to the high command as the party’s candidate for the by-election to the Sira Assembly constituency in the Tumakuru district.

The bypoll is necessitated following the death of JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana last month. The poll schedule for the seat is yet to be announced by the election commission.

Aimed at retaining the seat that it had lost during the 2018 Assembly polls, Congress today held a meeting with party leaders from Tumakuru district, to decide on the poll strategy and to finalise the candidate. “Our legislature party leader (Siddaramaiah) and I have held discussions with our Tumakuru district leaders… we have decided to fight the elections together under the Chairmanship of G Parameshwara (former DCM) and K N Rajanna (senior leader) as the co-chairman,” KPCC President D K Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, he said Rajanna has proposed the name of T B Jayachandra as the party candidate. “Everyone has agreed to Rajanna’s proposal to field Jayachandra and to face the election unitedly. Siddaramaiah and I will send the opinion of the party district leaders to the high command,” he said, adding that our elocution related activities will begin from now on and we will face the election together.

Jayachandra, who was Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the Siddaramaiah government, had represented the constituency twice in 2008 and 2013, by defeating JD(S)’ B Sathyanarayana. However, Sathyanarayana had defeated Jayachandra in the 2018 Assembly polls. With the Congress and JD(S) being seen as traditional rivals in the seat that has a considerable Vokkaliga population, it needs to be seen who the regional party fields.

There are talks within the JD(S) circle that the party might field someone from Sathyanarayana’s family, aimed at garnering sympathy votes. JD(S) legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy had recently met party workers to discuss the Sira bypolls. Terming the seat as the party’s stronghold, he had called on the party workers to face the election unitedly.

The ruling BJP, which has never won the seat, is also drawing up a strategy to make inroads. It had fielded S R Gowda in the 2018 Assembly polls, who had come a distant third by securing about 9.41 per cent of the votes, while Jayachandra and winner Sathyanarayana had secured 35.49 and 41.24 per cent of the votes respectively. If the BJP fields a strong candidate, the Sira bypolls are likely to see a three-cornered contest.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who is in Delhi for a visit from Thursday, is expected to discuss the candidate with the BJP high command, party sources said.

Courtesy: PTI

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