Shivamogga (Karnataka): As the much anticipated Lok Sabha elections 2024 draw near, families of two former Karnataka Chief Ministers are likely to be pitted against each other yet again in the prestigious Shivamogga parliamentary seat in Karnataka.
In the first list of 39 Congress candidates for Lok Sabha Election 2024, for Karnataka Chief Minister S Bangarappa's daughter and Kannada actor Shivarajkumar's wife Geetha Shivarajkumar has been fielded by the party from Shivamoga.
With former CM BS Yeddyurappa's son and sitting BJP MP BY Raghavendra likely to be fielded from the seat, the constituency will yet again set to yet again witness the nail-biting clash between the Bangarappa and Yediyurappa families going on since 2009 in Shivamogga.
Geetha Aiming to Turn the Tide: Geetha Shivrajkumar is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Shivamogga for the second time. Earlier in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, she contested against BS Yeddyurappa from the JDS party and lost. Geetha got 2,40,636 votes in that election. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Geetha's brother, current Karnataka Education minister Madhu Bangarappa contested as a JDS candidate and lost to Yeddyurappa's BY Raghavendra again.
Geetha and Madhu left JDS and joined Congress in 2022. The former CM's daughter is seeking to oust the two-time BJP MP in this year's general election.
What is Geetha Shivrajkumar's strength? Geetha Shivrajkumar is the daughter of late former Chief Minister S Bangarappa. She closely watched the politics of her father and brother Kumar Bangarappa. After getting married to actor Shivrajkumar, Geeta stayed away from politics. Later, she entered politics in 2014 by contesting against BS Yeddyurappa. Brother Madhu Bangarappa is currently the minister in charge of Shivamogga district, which is a source of strength for Congress candidate Geetha. Besides, the Congress candidate is also seeking to ride on the popularity of the guarantee schemes of the ruling party in the state.
With the Congress government being in power and Geetha's brother a minister in the state, her workers are carrying on the campaign vigorously.
Direct fight between former CM families from 2009 to 2024: In 2009 Yeddyurappa's son BY Raghavendra contested for the first time from BJP against late former CM S Bangarappa and won. Later in 2014, Geetha Sivarajkumar contested against Yeddyurappa and lost to BY Raghavendra. In the 2018 Lok Sabha by-election, Madhu Bangarappa contested against BY Raghavendra as a Congress-JDS alliance candidate on the JDS symbol but lost again.
The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of incumbent MP BS Yeddyurappa who was elected to the state assembly from the Shikaripura constituency. Madhu Bangarappa, who contested from JDS against BY Raghavendra in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections too, faced defeat again. Thus, in the last four elections, the Chief Minister's families have fought directly against each other with this year's general election to be the fifth time it will be a direct battle between the two political families.
Movie Stars to be Faces of Poll Campaign: Kannada actor and Geetha's husband Shivrajkumar said that last time many Kannada actors and actresses including Upendra, Vijaya Raghavendra, Srimurali and Vinod Prabhakar came to campaign on behalf of Geetha Sivarajkumar. “Even now there are chances of many of them coming to campaign. I want to see my wife as an MP. I am taking my shooting break and I will campaign for Geeta,'' he said.
