After 20 years, Congress leader Hariprasad to contest from Bangalore South
The 2019 Lok Sabha election is nothing new to BK Hariprasad as he had already contested from Bangalore South constituency against Ananth Kumar in 1999.
FollowBengaluru: Amid suspense and dilemma in the BJP over its candidate for Bangalore South constituency, the Congress on Sunday announced that the party would field BK Hariprasad from the constituency.
Hariprasad's strong loyalty to the party dates from his college days when he was associated with the youth Congress.
Speaking to reporters, Hariprasad said, "I have completed 40 years of service to the Congress. There was no specific Lok Sabha seat to contest. Party national president Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao decided that I should contest from Bengaluru South seat."
The Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency is not new for Hariprasad as former Union minister Ananth Kumar had defeated him in 1999.
Expressing confidence about his victory this time, Hariprasad said the circumstances now are different from 1999 as things are in his favour.
In most likelihood, Hariprasad may have to contest against Ananth Kumar's widow Tejaswini Ananth Kumar as indicated by Padmanabhanagar MLA and former deputy chief minister R Ashok.
Ashok said the BJP core committee in Karnataka had sent the name of Tejaswini to contest from Bengaluru South.
"We sent the name of Tejaswini from Bengaluru South. We are confident that she will be our candidate. The BJP has started campaigning for her," said Ashok.
Since the BJP has not announced its candidate from this seat, speculation was rife that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would contest from here. But it was dismissed by Union minister for science and technology Harsh Vardhan as a rumour.
