Ward 18 braces for a tough triangular fight

Mysuru: Candidates contesting the byelection to ward 18 of Mysuru City Corporation have promised to make it a model ward as well as be available to the electorate 24 hours.
Voting for the byelection will be held on Sunday.
Candidates from three major parties—BJP, Congress and JD(S)—are in the fray.
Stakes are high for the BJP as it is seeking to retain its hold over the segment. Given that the segment falls in Chamaraja assembly constituency represented by BJP’s L Nagendra, activists are keen to ensure a win so that the party continues as the single largest party in the corporation. Nagendra has campaigned for party candidate, BV Ravindra.
The Congress, which is seeking to wrest the segment from BJP, is canvassing with former MLA Vasu in the lead. MLC R Dharmasena, deputy mayor C Sridhar and a host of former mayors are campaigning for candidate, R Ravindra Kumar.
Enthused after its candidate was elected mayor, the JD(S) is campaigning with Tasneem Bano and city unit chief KT Chaluvegowda.
The bypoll was necessitated following the disqualification of BJP corporator Guru Vinayak over a ST caste certificate row. Counting of votes will be taken up on February 11.
The candidates have assured the voters that they will be available to them 24 hours a day and will address issues at the earliest.
While BJP candidate BV Ravindra has promised to open an office in the ward for easy access to him, his Congress counterpart R Ravindra Kumar, who lost to BJP in 2018, has assured voters that collection of garbage every day and installing streetlights will be his priority.
For JD(S)’ Swamy this will be his third election. He had contested from the Congress and as an Independent before.
Hunsur misses GTD
Hunsur is all set for the city municipal council election on February 9. Congress which won in the recently held assembly byelection has fielded candidates in all the 31 wards while JD(S) has field candidates in 28 wards and BJP in 22 wards.
The previous term saw Congress winning the council.
BJP which released a separate manifesto for the council has promised that it will find a permanent solution to the long pending civic issues dogging the town.
What has surprised many is the party's failure to field candidates for all 31 wards. According to SD Mahendra, party district unit president, the party didn't find candidates for the Muslim majority wards. “We hope to win 10-15 wards,” he said.
JD(S)’ campaign is led by Devarahalli Somashekar, the party's candidate in the byelection. Locals feel the absence of party veteran GT Devegowda is likely to affect the party’s fortunes.
Curbs in dist
The district administration has imposed prohibitory orders in Hunsur town from midnight of February 8 to midnight of February 9 and midnight of February 10 and February 11. The sale of liquor has been banned during this period in the city and villages. The district administration has also sought postponement of all festivals and celebrations on Sunday.
All in the family
*In ward no. 16, HK Venkatesh is contesting as the Congress candidate while his sibling HK Ganesh is contesting as a BJP candidate from ward no. 26.
*In ward no. 18 and 26 siblings HN Chandrasekar and HN Kumar are contesting as Congress candidates.
*Dhanalakshmamma S and husband Shivaraju who were elected last time are contesting this time too. Both are JD(S) candidates from ward no. 4 and 5 respectively.