Efforts by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to persuade disgruntled leader K.S. Eshwarappa to fall in line went futile and the disgruntled leader went ahead with his nomination on Friday to enter the poll fray from Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat in the ensuing election.
The disgruntled BJP leader will be fighting incumbent BJP Member of Parliament B.Y. Raghavendra and Geeta Shivarajkumar of the Congress party as his main rivals in the poll fray. Voting for Shivamogga seat will be held on May 7.
Several leaders including BJP Karnataka incharge Radha Mohan Aggarwal made efforts to make Eshwarappa not to contest the election as a rebel candidate. But he remained adamant on his decision to contest.
The decision from Eshwarappa came after BJP Central leaders denied his son Kantesh, a former Zilla Panchayat member, ticket to contest Haveri Lok Sabha seat and the ticket went in favour of former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
After denying ticket to his son, Eshwarappa held his contemporary and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa was responsible for the denial of a ticket to his son Kantesh. His grouse was that while his son Kantesh was denied party ticket, Yediyurappa’s son Raghavendra got re-nomination from the party.
During the Assembly elections in Karnataka, BJP had denied re-nomination to Eshwarappa to contest Shivamogga Assembly seat, a seat which he had represented five times.
To counter BJP, Eshwarappa wore a saffron shawl around his neck and the procession vehicle used by him to file papers had a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His supporters shouted slogans ‘Jai Sriram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai.’
After his nomination, Eshwarappa told reporters that his supporters will now visit every households in Shivamogga seat and tell voters “What injustice has been done to me?” and also “Injusrtice to Hindutva?”
The supporters will also voters of the constituency that BJP is in the hands of a father (Yediyurappa) and his sons (Raghavendra and Vijayendra, State BJP Chief) and state to the voters “What made Eshwarappa enter the fray from Shivamogga?”
Besides, Eshwarappa threw a challenge at State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra to face him in the election and emerge victorious against him in the election.
Kantesh said “It is not the contest against BJP but against the dynastic politics of Yediyurappa.”
On the contest by Eshwarappa, State BJP President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra exuded confidence that Eshwarappa would withdraw his papers and there are still days left for the withdrawal of nominations.
