Shivamogga (Karnataka) : After his son was not given Haveri Lok Sabha ticket, Karnataka former Deputy Chief Minister Eshwarappa rebelled against the BJP and contested from Shivamogga constituency. He is giving open statements against former CM B S Yediyurappa and his sons. Confident of winning, Eshwarappa has started campaigning in the nook and corner of the constituency.
Eshwarappa's move has been heavily debated in state politics and has caused embarrassment to the BJP. The state BJP unit, which remained silent till the deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers, on Monday expelled K S Eshwarappa from the party for 6 years after has served in the party for 40 years.
Sitting MP B Y Raghavendra, son of former CM Yediyurappa, is contesting the seat again on BJP ticket and Geeta Sivarajkumar on Congress ticket. Eshwarappa being in the fray as an independent candidate is a challenge for both the BJP and Congress. Now, Eshwarappa is campaigning hard to defeat B Y Raghavendra. As per the orders of the BJP high command, Eshwarappa had given up the Shivamogga assembly constituency in the assembly elections. But this time he is going to show his strength by contesting against the BJP candidate.
There are 17,29,901 voters in Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency. Nearly 50% of these voters belong to OBCs. Since Eshwarappa belongs to the Kuruba community, he is hoping that the OBC voters will support him. Eshwarappa said that many workers were upset because they did not get recognition in the party, and they were all with him.
Eshwarappa banking women votes: K S Eshwarappa has been running the Marikamba Self Help Society for the last 10 years. Besides, he is running Marikamba Finance. He is confident of their support. He hopes that members of Youth Shakti, Nari Shakti and Farmer Shakti are with me. A symbol of a farmer with sugarcane is allotted to Eshwarappa in this election. Eshwarappa, who has been competing under the lotus symbol for the past 40 years, is now competing with a new symbol.
BJP's strategy: Eshwarappa is a direct challenge to sitting MP B Y Raghavendra. As Eshwarappa may divide BJP votes, they are planning to adopt a different strategy. BJP is trying to retain support of the loyalists of Eshwarappa including ex-members of BJP committee. However, some former members of BJP, including Vishwas, Shankar Ganni, Aarti Prakash, Lata Ganesh, Lakshmi, are standing with Eshwarappa.
Eshwarappa is saying that he will win and that he will strengthen the hand of Prime Minister Modi. Eshwarappa is confident that traditional votes will also be in his favor in this election. His entry has led to a triangular contest in Shivamogga constituency. We have to wait and see what will happen in the June 4 result.
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