Legacy continues with Nikhil Kumaraswamy, Bharat Bommai entering poll fray from Channapatna and Shiggaon

Bengaluru: The upcoming Assembly bypolls in Karnataka are set to witness another ‘son rise,’ as Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of former Chief Minister and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, has been nominated as the NDA candidate from Channapatna. He will face off against party-hopper and Congress candidate C.P. Yogeshwar.

Earlier, the BJP announced that Bharat Bommai, son of former Chief Minister and Haveri MP Basavaraj Bommai, would be their nominee for the Shiggaon seat vacated by his father.

Ending months of speculation regarding the NDA candidate for Channapatna, Youth JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy was officially declared the candidate yesterday. He aims to retain the seat won by his father in May 2023, when Kumaraswamy defeated fellow Vokkaliga Yogeshwar, who contested on a BJP ticket, by a margin of 16,000 votes.

This bypoll was necessitated by H.D. Kumaraswamy’s resignation after his election to the Lok Sabha from Mandya earlier this year and his subsequent appointment as a Union Minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet.

Speculation about the NDA candidate for the Channapatna Assembly segment began following Kumaraswamy’s resignation in June. However, uncertainties were resolved when coalition partners BJP and JD(S) convened at the residence of veteran BJP leader and former CM B.S. Yediyurappa in Dollars Colony to announce Nikhil’s candidacy.

Competition for candidature

BJP leader Yogeshwar, an MLC, was also vying for the BJP ticket. Still, JD(S) leader and former CM Kumaraswamy pushed for Nikhil’s candidacy, much to Yogeshwar’s displeasure.

Despite Yogeshwar’s efforts to persuade BJP leaders in New Delhi, he was unlikely to secure the ticket, as the seat was traditionally held by JD(S), which intended to contest it while leaving the Shiggaon and Sandur segments to the BJP.

Upon realising he would not receive the BJP ticket, Yogeshwar resigned from his position as BJP MLC on Monday and joined Congress on Wednesday, where he was quickly granted the party ticket for the bypolls.

At 36 years, Nikhil, who is also an actor, will be attempting to enter electoral politics for the third time. In 2019, during his father’s tenure as Chief Minister, Nikhil made his debut from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat but was defeated by veteran actress Sumalatha Ambarish by 1.25 lakh votes.

In 2023, he contested the Assembly polls from Ramanagara, a seat previously held by his mother, Anitha Kumaraswamy, but lost to Iqbal Hussain of the Congress party.

On the other hand, the Congress is optimistic that Yogeshwar’s popularity will help the party wrest the seat from JD(S), which has a stronghold in Vokkaliga heartland.

Yesterday afternoon, Congress candidate C.P. Yogeshwar filed his nomination papers for the Channapatna bypolls.

He submitted his nomination at the Office of the Electoral Officer, accompanied by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar, Ramanagara District In-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy and other local Congress leaders.

Till yesterday, a total of 17 candidates filed their nomination papers, including Yogeshwar.