Karnataka Election 2023: A 'tight fight' in Channapatna between 5-time MLA Yogeshwara & JD(S)'s Kumaraswamy
Karnataka Election 2023: A high-stakes struggle is taking place in Ramanagara district's Channapatna between JD(S) leader and two-time Chief Minister H D Kumaraswmy and BJP's C P Yogeshwara. Both are members of the region's main Vokkaliga community.
Follow"There’s a tight fight," several voters in this region known for its wooden toys and sericulture said on the election scene in this high-profile Assembly seat. A high-stakes struggle is taking place in Ramanagara district's Channapatna between JD(S) leader and two-time Chief Minister H D Kumaraswmy and BJP's C P Yogeshwara. Both are members of the region's main Vokkaliga community.
The Congress has fielded Gangadhar S as its candidate. Yogeshwara has been elected to the segment five times as an independent, as well as from the Congress, BJP, and the Samajwadi Party (SP). In the 2018 elections, he was defeated by Kumaraswamy, who ran in Channapatna. Kumaraswamy then defeated Yogeshwara by a margin of 21,530 votes.
In the 2013 polls, Yogeshwara as an SP candidate defeated Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha Kumaraswamy of JD(S) by 6,464 votes. Kumaraswamy and Yogeshwara both have ties to the film business. Yogeshwara had acted in a few films, but Kumaraswamy had been a film producer, distributor, and exhibitor.
Most of the voters in the sector seemed unwilling to overtly voice their preference, citing a "tight fight" between Kumaraswamy and Yogeshwara.
Some seemed perplexed by the two, who have widespread public support. While Yogeshwara is well-known in the region for his development activities like as irrigation and lake filling, the people here also do not want to miss out on the chance to pick Kumaraswamy, the "future Chief Minister," as their candidate.
Kumaraswamy was elected from Channapatna and Ramanagara in 2018 and maintained Channapatna; he then served as the Chief Minister of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government for roughly 14 months.
According to some in the constituency, despite Yogeshwara's tremendous popularity in delivering water to tanks/lakes, he lost due to his "party-hopping" actions, and Kumaraswamy, who was considered as a possible CM face contesting from the seat, won.
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Though Kumaraswamy is accused of being unreachable and not present on the ground on a daily basis in comparison to Yogeshwara, he is popular as a previous Chief Minister, and many expect him to reclaim the coveted office this time. Kumaraswamy is praised for his pro-poor policies, including the forgiveness of farm loans and the construction of roads and other infrastructure.
Kumaraswamy had held the seat continuously since 2004 and also served as Chief Minister. Because he had also run from Channapatna in 2018, he gave up the Ramanagara seat and made his wife Anitha run from there in following byelections, ensuring her victory. She is the current Ramanagara MLA.
(With PTI inputs)
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