Nikhil Kumaraswamy named NDA candidate for Channapatna

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP Central Parliamentary Board Member B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday announced the name of actor-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy -- grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and son of Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy -- as the NDA candidate from the high-profile Channapatna Assembly constituency for the November 13 bypolls.

Addressing mediapersons along with H.D. Kumaraswamy, candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka here, Yediyurappa said: “We have the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We will meet the media after we achieve victory in the election. Our victory is hundred per cent certain. I have full confidence that Nikhil Kumaraswamy will win the bypolls. “Our candidate’s victory is very important, and we will put in all the efforts needed to achieve this. There is no doubt about Nikhil Kumaraswamy winning by a big margin. I am not going to speak a word about another person. I do not want to speak about the leader (referring to C.P. Yogeshwara who switched to Congress from the BJP) who changed the party,” he said.

Asked about the delay in announcing the candidate, Yediyurappa stated that Kumaraswamy’s (JD-S) party had to make a decision first, and they took the decision on Friday morning after the party meeting.

“We are going to support him and NDA is going to win by a very big margin. It won’t be a tough fight. People support Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We will conduct tours across the entire constituency. We will win all three constituencies,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy, told IANS that every election is tough. “We have to accept the victories and losses. But our candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is going to win comfortably. The Congress leaders are hoping that their candidate C.P. Yogeshwara will ensure victory for them. They are not saying that the Congress is going to win. Let us see what the mandate of the people will be,” he said.

The Union Minister further said: “Yogeshwara was with the BJP till yesterday. They have kidnapped Yogeshwara... will people vote for their party? People have sense and one should not play with them. The Congress might have the power, but they won’t get votes. The people are angry at the Congress-led state government.”

Political observers believe that Shivakumar and his brother D.K. Suresh have taken it as a matter of prestige to win the seat to avenge the defeat in Bengaluru Rural constituency. Both want to show that they still command the votes of the Vokkaliga community.