Siddu, BSY, Sriramulu brace for countdown

BANGALORE: After a hectic fortnight-long campaign in the byelection to three assembly segments, party leaders returned home on Tuesday night, each confident of victory.
Polls are being held in three different geographical areas - Malnad (Shikaripur), Hyderabad-Karnatak (Bellary Rural) and Mumbai-Karnataka (Chikkodi-Sadalga). The byelections are an acid test for chief minister Siddaramaiah, BJP national vice-president BS Yeddyurappa and MP B Sriramulu.
The problem of bagar-hukum (unauthorized cultivation of forest land) in Shikaripur, sugarcane farmers' woes in Chikkodi and under-development in Bellary have been pushed to the background, with personality clashes taking over.
For Yeddyurappa, the battle is crucial, given that his son BY Raghavendra is in the fray, and his recent appointment as a national vice-president of the BJP. Shikaripur is his fief - he has won seven times here since 1983, and lost just once - in 1999 -- in more than three decades. HS Shanthaveerappa Gowda, one-time associate of Yeddyurappa, is Raghavendra's challenger.
Bellary Rural is Sriramulu's home turf, from where he got elected continuously from 2004. He won the 2013 assembly polls as leader of his party, the BSR Congress. Prior to the Lok Sabha polls, he joined the BJP and won. Now, the saffron party has fielded Sriramulu's close confidant Obalesh and it's important for him to assert his influence in the district and prove his strength. The Congress has fielded four-term MLA NY Gopalakrishna.
Former minister and MP Prakash Hukkeri has been the most influential leader in Chikkodi-Sadalga. Though he was unwilling, Siddaramaiah forced the five-term MLA to contest the Lok Sabha poll. As thanksgiving, the party gave the ticket to his son Ganesh Hukkeri. The BJP has fielded MLC and local strongman Mahantesh Kavatagimath.
After an unimpressive performance in the Lok Sabha polls, it's crucial for Siddaramaiah to prove his mettle. He knows his detractors, both within and outside the party, will target him if the party loses this election. It will also be termed a referendum on the performance of his 16-month-old government. A defeat would mean losing his authority both in the government and party.
In Shikaripur, he personally met JD(S) leader HT Baligar, who had bagged around 26,000 votes in the 2013 assembly polls, and secured his support. Former minister Goolihatti Shekhar, who is in the fray as an independent, on Tuesday announced he was retiring from the contest and supporting the Congress. The JD(S) is helping the Congress in Shikaripur.