Yeddyurappa’s son misses out on ticket
Battle for Varuna was projected as a fight between sons of former and sitting CMs
BENGALURU: Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra missed out on a ticket for the upcoming assembly election on Monday in the party’s fourth list, triggering protests by angry workers.
Vijayendra had begun campaigning in the Varuna constituency in Mysuru district, where he was expected to contest against chief minister Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra.
Addressing a convention in Nanjangud in Chamarajanagar district, Yeddyurappa said a common party worker would be fielded from Varuna. “I want to inform all party workers that Vijayendra will not be filing his candidature from Varuna. However, he will campaign for all our candidates in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts,” he said.
Protests by party workers began in Varuna soon after the announcement. Vijayendra took to Twitter to call on his supporters to maintain peace.
“I urge party cadre to maintain peace and tranquillity, which is of foremost importance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa’s close aide, Shobha Karandlaje, who is a member of Parliament from Ududpi-Chickmagaluru constituency, also did not find any mention in the fourth list.
Sources in the party said she was interested in contesting from the Yeshwanthpur constituency in Bengaluru.
The party has also not announced a candidate for the Badami seat in Bagalkot district in northern Karnataka, where chief minister Siddaramaiah is contesting, and three other seats. Just one day is left for filing nominations. Lallesh Reddy, a relative of the Reddy brothers of Ballari, has been picked by the party to contest against home minister R Ramalinga Reddy in the BTM Layout constituency in Bengaluru. Lallesh is the third person from the family to have been given a ticket by the party.
G Karunakara Reddy, the eldest of the three Reddy brothers, and G Somashekhara Reddy, the youngest, have both been fielded by the party.
A senior state BJP leader said the party had decided on the candidates based on the probability of victory. “All our candidates were chosen using this metric,” he said.