BSP names its candidates for Chamarajanagar, Chikkaballapur seats

Chamarajanagar: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has a strong base in Chamarajanagar district, has finalised its candidates for Chamarajanagar and Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha seats. N Shivakumar, who has been associated with the party for the past two decades, has been named as its Chamarajanagar candidate, while social activist and former chairman of Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission, C S Dwarakanatha, will contest from Chikkaballapur seat.
Their names were finalised after a meeting late on Monday.

The BSP tried to get two retired IAS officers– K Shivaram and K Rathna Prabha—to contest from Chamarajanagar but didn’t get any response from them.

Speaking to TOI, Shivakumar said he has been a BSP activist for two decades. “I know the rank and file of the workforce and through them I will reach the voters,” he said.

Shivakumar, an original resident of Malavalli, had tried his luck in assembly polls from Malavalli in Mandya district in 2004. He had secured 7,752 votes in assembly polls. He works as a tutor at various IAS training centres in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. He teaches Kannada literature to aspirants of competitive exams.

In the previous election, BSP candidate Shivamallu got 38,000 votes.

Former minister and Kollegala MLA N Mahesh, the lone BSP legislator in Karnataka, said Shivakumar is an active party worker and he had been associated with his party for the past two decades. “He has good network in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar and in fact, in south Karnataka,” Mahesh said.

BSP state president A Hariram said the names for the rest 26 seats would be announced in a day or two.