Shivamogga LS constituency awaits a royal battle;Sons' of three former CM's into the fray

Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka is witnessing an unusual tussle for the ensuing bye elections scheduled on 3 November.Irrespective of whoever making it through in the polls considered to be semi finals for the forthcoming general elections during 2019 the tenure is short lived and at the most not more than six months.

The bye elections now a bone of contention between the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and two strange bed mates on power sharing seat,Janata Dal Secular and Indian National Congress was necessitated following the resignation of BS Yeddyurappa to the Lok Sabha constituency.He quit it following his election to the state Assembly from Shikaripura constituency in the same district.

Now BY Raghavendra,former Shikaripura MLA and Shivamogga MP and son of BS Yeddyurappa is the BJP candidate here.On the other hand Madhu Bangarappa,former Sorab MLA in the same district and son of former chief minister Sarekoppa Bangarappa of the Janata Dal Secular is the combined candidate of JDS and Congress ruling parties.

Mahima Patel,former MLA of Channagiri constituency earlier belonging to Shivamogga and now to Davanagere district is contesting as a nominee of the Janata Dal United.He is the son of JH Patel,flamboyant socialist and former chief minister.

Interestingly all the three former chief ministers were elected from Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency apart from winning in the Assembly segments of the district several times.In fact S Bangarappa represented the constituency multiple times and with the same number of parties also!

The late chief minister continues to hold the record of winning continuously for seven times from the backward Sorab constituency since 1967.Perhaps his election from the Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency is also another unique record of sorts.

He represented it on behalf of Karnataka Congress Party(KCP),the regional outfit he floated after quitting the Congress for a short time only to rejoin it later.Later he was reelected on Congress,BJP and Samajavadi Party tickets as well!

But the frequent turncoat's fag end of political career was quite humiliating and disgusting.The political enmity with BS Yeddyurappa went so worse that S Bangarappa joined the Janata Dal Secular only to be severely humiliated by the former in Shikaripura Assembly constituency and that too with a huge margin.

As if such snubbing alone wasn't enough he underwent poll drubbing in the same Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency by much juniors like Ayanuru Manjunath and BY Raghavendra,a political novice,both of the BJP.

JH Patel created history during 1967 when he was first elected to the Lok Sabha by speaking in Kannada at the Parliamentary proceedings.By doing so he became a bench mark for other members wishing to speak in their own mother tongue.

During 2014 Lok Sabha polls BS Yeddyurappa won the Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency by a unprecedented massive margin of 3,63,305 votes and thereby registered as the only MP in the state to win with such accolades.

Now his son BY Raghavendra is again contesting from the constituency which he once represented by humbling none other than S Bangarappa. He is also a former MLA of Shikaripura in the district from where his father got elected to the present Assembly during May 2018 elections.

So by whichever way you would like to glance the tight grip of the father and son duo over Shikaripura Assembly and Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituencies are quite distinct and much visible.

As of now the same sort of opinion cannot be attributed to either Madhu Bangarappa of the JDS or Mahima Patel of the JDU. Madhu Bangarappa lost in the Sorab constituency during the May 2018 elections while Mahima Patel has been on a losing spree after he once represented the Channagiri constituency.

Madhu Bangarappa was trounced in Sorab by Kumar Bangarappa,his own brother who switched over from the Congress to the BJP just sometime before the last general elections.Ever since S Bangarappa passed away the blood relations between the siblings also looks to be over for all practical purposes.

Kumar Bangarappa,former minister in the Congress government is now an arch rival of his own brother both in Sorab and Shivamogga district politics.If Madhu Bangarappa wants to continue his family feud with BS Yeddyurappa his brother is sitting pretty on the opponent's side.

In the 2014 Parliamentary elections Geetha Shivarajkumar,sister of the Bangarappa brothers and wife of Sandalwood hero Shivarajkumar was pushed to the third position in Shivamogga. Then she had contested on the ticket of Janata Dal Secular.

All attempts to woo the district voters under the guise of electing Geetha Shivarajkumar would be a fitting tribute to the late departed leader S Bangarappa had no takers.And now another defeat to Madhu Bangarappa in the recently concluded Assembly elections are nothing but an eyeopener of the reality on ground.

Even this time also the same ploy was thought of to gain sympathy for the losing candidate.However HD Devegowda had other plans in mind. Madhu Bangarappa who was on a foreign tour was advised to cut short his trip and return by the next available flight.

After late night confabulations at actor Shivarajkumar's residence Madhu Bangarappa rushed back to receive the B form early in the morning at around 2.30 am from HD Devegowda in his house.

Interestingly there were no takers for the seat within the Congress circles. Kagodu Thimmappa,octogenarian and former Assembly speaker who lost in Sagar constituency didn't evince any interest in contesting.Nor did Kimmane Rathnakar,former education minister.He lamented:I haven't yet cleared the dues borrowed for contesting the previous elections.Where do I have money to contest once again?

On the face of it the ground situation looks to be of advantage to the BJP. The Bangarappa factor is no more worrisome to anybody nor is it found to be advantageous to others if you look at the results of the recent elections.

Shivamogga district has seven Assembly constituencies namely,Bhadravathi,Sagar,Shikaripura,Shivamogga,Shivamogga Rural,Sorab and Thirthahalli. But for Bhadravathi all other six constituencies have BJP MLAs'.

The Congress might have joined hands with the JDS for a variety of reasons.But such stance is no guarantee that it will fetch all the Congress votes to the JDS fold.Added to the writing on the wall,BS Yeddyurappa still continues to be a formidable force to reckon with.And in the absence off S Bangarappa he literally has no challenge worth mentioning.

-Manohar Yadavatti