Sandur by-election, a prestige battle of three individuals

Bengaluru: By-elections will be held on November 13 for the three assembly constituencies of Karnataka. By-elections will be held for Shiggavi, Channapatna, Sandur assembly constituencies. This poll battle is a matter of prestige for both national parties, BJP and Congress.

Former Ministers Janardhana Reddy, Sriramulu and B Nagendra have taken the Sandur by-election as a challenge. Sriramulu was defeated in the last Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Sriramulu is upset by this defeat. Sriramulu is trying to avenge this defeat. Thus it is being said that Sriramulu wants to contest from Sandur constituency. However, it is anybody’s guess if Janardhana Reddy, once a close friend, will lend him support.

Janardhana Reddy has joined the BJP and talked about resuming the old friendship with Sriramulu. However, it is being said that all is not well between Sriramulu and Janardhana Reddy. So, it remains to be seen if Reddy will support Sriramulu.

Also, there are 19 aspirants including Sriramulu to contest from Sandur constituency from BJP. Bangaru Hanumanthu, KS Diwakar, Devendrappa, Sriramulu from BJP are in contention for the ticket. But, one has to wait and see who will get the ticket. No matter who gets the ticket, leadership plays a very important role. Apparently, it is said that there is a possibility that BJP will hand over the leadership of the Sandur election to Janardhana Reddy.

Former minister B Nagendra has been released from jail and has entered the Sandur poll battle. They are hatching various strategies to take revenge against the BJP and the miners. Bellary In-charge Minister Zameer Ahmed has already announced Sandur B Nagendra as election in-charge . With this, the Congress is ready to face the Sandur elections under the leadership of current and former ministers.

Congress MP E Tukaram’s wife Annapoorna Tukaram or daughter Chaitanya Tukaram, Tumati Lakshmana, Sandeepa are all in the fray. Sources have informed that the Congress High Command is willing to give ticket to E Tukaram’s family. As E Tukaram, who was an MLA, contested the Lok Sabha election against the BJP’s senior leader Sriramulu on the instructions of the High Command and tested his luck and he won. It is being said that the High Command has decided to give ticket to E Tukaram’s family because of party loyalty.

Over all, both the national parties are making counter-strategies to win the Sandur constituency. However, first the differences in both the parties have to be resolved. The Sandur election will witness a political fight between Janardhana Reddy and B Nagendra who were once like Guru-Sishya.