Karnataka bypolls: Siddaramaiah relieved, DKS braces for battle in Channapatna

The announcement for the dates to the bypolls in three Assembly constituencies in Karnataka has triggered hectic political activity among the three key political parties – the Congress, BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) – in the state.

The three constituencies that will go to the polls in Karnataka on November 13 are Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur (ST). According to the ECI, the polling in these three constituencies will be held on November 13 and the counting will take place on November 23.

Channapatna is facing bypolls because of the resignation of its sitting MLA and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. While Shiggaon and Sandur are going to the polls due to the resignation of former chief minister and sitting MLA Basavaraj Bommai and sitting MLA, E Tukaram respectively.

All the three constituencies that are going to polls are critical for the three political parties – the ruling Congress, Opposition BJP and its alliance partner JD(S). For the Congress, winning the three constituencies will boost its image, which had got a battering with charges of corruption in the MUDA site allotment and the Valmiki Corporation Scam.

According to senior Congress leaders, a victory in the bypolls will demoralise BJP and JD(S), which are intent on bringing down the Congress government and unseating Siddaramaiah from the CM’s post. Similarly, BJP and JD(S) need to follow up on their victory in the Lok Sabha polls.

“Even if Congress loses in all the three constituencies, there is no threat to the government. But, if they win, the Congress will gain an upper hand over the BJP and JD(S)in the state,” said a political analyst.

Dynastic politics continues to take centrestage in the state. After the Lok Sabha polls, speculation has been rife that the children of three veteran Karnataka politicians will contest in the bypolls. While Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil will probably be the JD(S) candidate for Channapatna; Haveri MPBasavaraj Bommai’s son, Bharat is most likely to contest on a BJP ticket in Shiggaon.

Ballari MP E Tukaram’s daughter Souparnika is touted to be the likely Congress candidate from Sanduru. Ballari district in-charge minister B Z Zammer Ahmed Khan proposed the name of E Annapoorna,wife of E Tukaram.

According to Congress sources, Khan has been tasked with ensuring a victory for the Congress in Sandur. According to sources, fielding family members is considered as a safe bet for all the three political parties.

“Nominating their kin will also help them to maintain a hold on their former constituencies. And for the parties, it will beeasy to fix the responsibility of assuring the victory of their kin,” said asenior Congress leader.

The announcement ofthe bypolls by the Election Commission of India (ECI) has come as a godsend to Siddaramaiah, who is battling charges of corruption in MUDA site allotment case and attempts by the Opposition BJP and JD(S) to oust him from power with the support of Karnataka governor Thaawarchand Gehlot. This is probably why Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was the first to react to the ECI announcement.

Siddaramaiah said that Congress is ready to face the byelection and the party is bracing for a battle with the Opposition parties.

Cabinet ministerfor large and medium industries and infrastructure development M B Patil was confident of winning all three constituencies. “Candidates for all the three constituencies will be finalised in consultation with local and high command leaders,” he said.

Setting the tone for the upcoming bypoll battle, Siddaramaiah on October 14 had appealed to the people of Sandur in Ballari district to unite against the alliance partners BJP and JD(S) to assure victory for the Congress. Accompanied by deputy chief minister and president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress, D K Shivakumar and some cabinet colleagues Siddaramaiah was in Sandur to attend the Sadhana Samavesha (Convention of Achievements) and launched many development works to win the hearts of the voters.

Incidentally, Sandur has historically been a Congress citadel. “Congress will not allow Opposition BJP and JD(S) to penetrate into its territory,” Siddaramaiah strongly declared at the public function.

Shiggaon is another important constituency in this byelection, as the seat was previously represented by former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. He vacated this constituency to contest in the Lok Sabha polls. While the BJP is keen on leaving no stone unturned to retain Shiggaon, Congress is gearing up to take the seat,which Basavaraj Bommai has held since 2008, from them.

BJP is riding a high due to its recent performance in the Lok Sabha elections, with the BJP and JD(S) combine winning in 19 constituencies, while the Congress won in 9 constituencies bettering its earlier 2019 performance.

Immediately after the Lok Sabha polls, political circles were abuzz with the news that Bharat Bommai, son of Basavaraj Bommai will contest from Shiggaon. However, Basavaraj Bommai recently clarified that neither his son nor the residents of Shiggaon-Savanur constituency have sought a ticket for Bharat.

Of the three constituencies, which are set to face polls, all eyes will be on Channapatna. It will be the most crucial seat for all the three parties. The bypoll to this constituency will directly impact Karnataka politics, as JD(S) state president and Union minister H D Kumaraswamy prepares for another face-off with his rival Congress state president and deputy CM D K Shivakumar.

While Congress, especially D K Shivakumar, is eager to avenge the defeat of his brother, former MP D K Suresh in the Bengaluru rural Lok Sabha constituency, the JD(S) will go all out to retain the seat vacated by H D Kumaraswamy, by fielding his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy.

However, BJP’s C P Yogeshwar is also keenly eyeing a ticket from this constituency. BJP-JD(S) alliance is yet to reach a consensus on the issue.

The ongoing tussle between BJP and JD(S) over the Assembly bypoll candidature has brought the cracks in the BJP-JD(S) alliance to the fore. C P Yogeshwar is keen to reclaim the seat that he had lost to Kumaraswamy in 2023, when the two parties had contested the seat separately.

Earlier, Yogeshwar represented Channapatna constituency in the Karnataka Assembly elections as an Independent in 1999; as Congress MLA in 2004 and 2008 and even defeated Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha Kumaraswamy in the 2013 polls on a Samajwadi Party ticket, when he was denied a ticket by the Congress. It is significantthat Yogeshwar was defeated by Kumaraswamy in 2018.

Now Yogeshwar is hell-bent on contesting from Channapatna as the National Democratic Alliance candidate. And, has made it clear that he will contest as an Independent candidate if Kumaraswamy succeeds in fielding his son Nikhil from this constituency.

Though D K Shivakumar repeatedly claims that the Channapatna party candidate will be finalised by the Congress high command, he is constantly clearing the pitch for his brother D K Suresh to emerge as the candidate. This is to avenge his defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and to re-establish his image in the party.

“Shivakumar’s plan is to reposition himself in the party and governance, after the defeat of his brother in Lok Sabha polls,” said a senior Congress leader, who also admitted that it will be difficult to find a more suitable candidate to fight Kumaraswamy and BJP in Channapatna. It has to be either D K Suresh or D K Shivakumar, who can give a good fight in this key constituency to the BJP, said party sources.

Further, Shivakumar is also hoping to emerge as a Vokkaliga leader in the old Mysuru region again with this bypoll victory.Shivakumar succeeded in poaching 13 of the 16 regional party’s councillors in the Channapatna City Municipal Council recently.

“This development will have an impact on the Channapatna bypoll, as alliance partners BJP and JD(S) are scrambling to find consensus candidates to fight the Congress candidate,” pointed out a senior Congress leader in Channapatna. In August, Shivakumar went to the extent ofannouncing that he will be the Congress candidate in the Channapata bypolls,‘no matter who ever contests from here on the Congress ticket’.

Amid all this political fervour, even as the parties gear up for the battle for the bypolls in the state, one political leader will quietly heave a sigh of relief. As a senior Congress leader close to Siddaramaiah observed,"All the three political parties will be busy weaving strategies to emerge victorious in the bypolls and scams will take a backseat. Siddaramaiah can now heave a sigh ofrelief for some time.”