Congress, BJP locked in tough battle in Gundlupet

MYSURU: Gundlupet assembly constituency will witness a tough fight between BJP’s sitting MLA CS Niranjan Kumar and debutant Congress candidate HM Ganesh Prasad, son of former minister HS Mahadeva Prasad.

In the 2018 assembly elections, Niranjan Kumar defeated Congress candidate Dr Geetha Mahadeva Prasad aka Mohan Kumari, wife of late minister HS Mahadeva Prasad, a prominent Lingayat leader, by 16,684 votes, and succeeded in opening the account of the saffron party in the constituency.

Niranjan’s victory also helped the BJP expand its presence in the border district. The party’s senior leader V Srinivas Prasad winning the Lok Sabha seat, the victory in town panchayat and APMC elections further strengthened the party in the border district.

After the death of Mahadeva Prasad in 2017 due to a heart attack, the Congress had given the ticket to his wife Geetha, a novice in politics, to contest against Niranjan. Geetha had managed to win the bypoll with sympathy votes. The party had also made her minister for sugar and small scale industries.

Niranjan, a staunch follower of former CM BS Yediyurappa, had contested on a BJP ticket in the 2008 assembly election and 2017 byelection, and on a KJP ticket in 2013, and was defeated in all the polls. His father CM Shivamallappa, a Congress leader, had contested as a Congress candidate in 1994 and Independent in 1999, and lost both elections. However, in 2018, the ‘Modi’ wave gave Niranjan the edge over Geetha.

Now, Geetha’s son Ganesh Prasad is contesting as a Congress candidate against Niranjan. There is still a sizable number of supporters of HS Mahadeva Prasad in the segment, and Ganesh’s service to the people during the Covid pandemic has made him a strong contender.

As both Niranjan Kumar and Ganesh belong to the Lingayat community, which is the second largest group in the constituency, it is the Dalit community, the largest in the segment, which will finally decide the fate of the candidates.

Meanwhile, the cold war between Niranjan Kumar and Mysuru-Chamarajanagar DCC Bank vice-president MP Sunil is worrying BJP state leaders, as Sunil is contesting as a rebel BJP candidate.