Karnataka: Union Minister's Son in Channapatna By-Poll Fray

Bengaluru: Alliance partners-Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal Secular announce Nikhil, son of former Chief Minister and Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy, as their candidate for the ensuing Channapatna Assembly by-poll to be held on November 13.

In the by-poll, Nikhil will contest on the JDS symbol backed by BJP and Nikhil will file his papers on Friday.

After the announcement of his candidature by senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa in Bengaluru on Thursday, Nikhil hoped the voters of Channapatna would bless him in the by-poll and consider electing a youngster to raise voice on the floor of the Assembly.

Trying his luck in electoral politics for the third time, Nikhil lost the 2024 Assembly election from Ramanagar Assembly seat as a JDS nominee. In 2019, Nikhil was defeated in the Mandya Lok Sabha election and then he contested the election as JDS and Congress party consensus nominee. He contested on the JDS symbol then.

The by-poll is held for Channapatna Assembly following the resignation of H.D. Kumaraswamy as an MLA. He won the Channapatna seat in May 2023 as a JDS nominee. Prior to Lok Sabha elections, BJP and JDS formed an alliance and JDS became a part of BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

In 2024, Kumaraswamy shifted from Channapatna Assembly seat to Mandya Lok Sabha seat. He won the Mandya Lok Sabha seat in 2024 and quit as an MLA.

The Channapatna seat is a stronghold of Janata Dal Secular (JDS) and the party nominees won in 2009 by-poll. Later, JDS made a comeback in Channapatna through its nominee H.D. Kumaraswamy by winning the 2018 and 2023 elections. However, JDS nominee Anitha Kumaraswamy, mother of nominee Nikhil, lost Channapatna election in the 2013.

Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa exuded confidence in Nikhil's victory in the by-poll. The alliance partners will put in their efforts to make Nikhil win in the by-poll.