Karnataka polls: We've not fielded right candidates, says BJP ticket holder

Yogeshwara, a party hopper, is contesting on a BJP ticket this time. He said that PM Modi and Adityanath's oratory won't help BJP much in Karnataka

CP Yogeshwara, 55, is the BJP candidate from the Channapatna assembly constituency. The taluk is famous for its wooden toys.

Since the 1999 assembly elections, Yogeshwara has won as an independent, on a Congress ticket, contested by-elections on a BJP ticket and also on a Samajwadi Party ticket.

Yogeshwara, who has also acted in films, has faced several corruption allegations in the past but is popular among his constituents as he has nursed his constituency well, taking particular care to address the irrigation needs of the farmers of the constituency.

He is a Vokkaliga and admires Vokkaliga leader HD Deve Gowda, but will now be facing his son and former chief minister Kumaraswamy, who is also contesting from the neighbouring Ramanagara assembly seat.

While Yogeshwara is likely to give a good fight, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cadres in the region have been asking voters in neighbouring constituencies of Channapatna to vote for the Janata Dal (Secular). The JD(S) workers also concede that the BJP is supporting them.

Channapatna is one of the four assembly constituencies in the Ramanagara district. As Yogeshwara points out, each one of them is represented in the outgoing assembly by a heavyweight of Karnataka assembly and the results here could indicate the electoral trend across the Old Mysuru region, where the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) are the principal players.

Ramanagara assembly constituency is the pocket borough of the former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy, who is yet again contesting from the seat.

Kanakpura assembly constituency is represented by Congress’ D K Shivakumar. He is among the richest politicians in the fray. A chief ministerial aspirant, Shivakumar served as the energy minister in the Siddaramaiah government. In September 2017, the Income Tax Department raided properties owned by him across the state and in Delhi. The raids came in the wake of Congress' attempts in Gujarat to keep its flock together in the run-up to the Rajya Sabha election of party leader Ahmed Patel. The 44 Congress legislators from Gujarat were put up by the party at a resort Shivakumar, or ‘DKS’, owns.

Magadi assembly constituency is represented by H C Bala Krishna. He was the JD(S) MLA from the constituency in 2013 but recently joined the Congress. He is one of the seven sitting JD(S) legislators, who have now been given Congress party tickets. The Congress candidate that Bala Krishna defeated in 2013, is now contesting from the JD(S) ticket.

Channapatna has been represented by Yogeshwara since 1999. In the 2013 assembly elections, Yogeshwara represented the Samajwadi Party, which is nonexistent in the area, and defeated Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha.

What is your assessment of your chances?

Outsiders might think Channapatna has a three-cornered fight, but it’s really a fight between the BJP and JD(S). I am going to contest on the BJP symbol. It is a straight fight between the Deve Gowda family and myself. The Congress is not in the contest in my constituency.

The electoral fights in the Ramanagara constituency are less about parties and more about individuals. All the four seats in the Ramanagara district have high profile candidates, who are equally strong – Kumaraswamy, DK Shivakumar, Bala Krishna and myself.

In Channapatna, you have been winning consistently, even as an SP candidate. Why join a party?

My political career has been colourful (chuckles). I have won as an independent (in 1999), as a Congress candidate, then as a  BJP candidate, in 2013 on a Samajwadi Party ticket, and then a by-election on a BJP ticket. It is true I win in my individual capacity. This is my fourth time on a BJP ticket. I have contested two assembly by-elections on the BJP ticket, and also a parliamentary election against Kumaraswamy, which I lost.

But BJP is struggling to make inroads in the region.

No, BJP is struggling only in Ramanagara district. We are fighting well in the Mandya city. HD Deve Gowda is the only factor in the Mysuru region. We would like to break the JD(S) influence here. We are going to break the dynasty rule in the Old Mysuru region. Let’s see. The fight in Old Mysuru is between the Congress and JD(S). The BJP will grow in some pockets.

Do you think the campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath will affect the outcome in Karnataka

Actually, frankly speaking, this is not like Uttar Pradesh. Here voters are mature…in south India, in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, we have our own regional parties. BJP is trying to establish itself but without grassroots workers and leaders.

Modiji is effective in Parliament (Lok Sabha) elections. But not much effective in the assembly elections because the BJP has not fielded proper candidates.

What has been the performance of the Siddaramaiah government?

It has 100 per cent failed. He has divided the society along caste lines to establish himself. He may have done some development, but one needs to take people into confidence, not divide the society.

What has the government done for the farmers?

In my whole district, my taluka is the best in terms of irrigation projects and refilling of tanks. In the last 20 years, people support me because of these projects. The Siddaramaiah government has tried to replicate across the state what I have accomplished here in Channapatna.