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Contesting from Nanjangud a tough call for Srinivas Prasad

Seat adjoins key constituencies
Last Updated 22 October 2016, 19:48 IST

 For former Congress MLA V Srinivas Prasad, the decision to face the byelections at Nanjangud, which is sandwiched between two key constituencies, is proving to be tough.

The Nanjangud Assembly constituency is adjacent to Varuna, the constituency of Chief Minister Siddarmaiah, and T Narasipur, the constituency of H C Mahadevappa. The election commission cannot keep a constituency vacant for more than six months.

Siddaramaiah has been frequently visiting Mysuru and also participating in a series of programmes. On Sunday, he has a public programme organised by the party in Nanjangud.

Even before the announcement of the byelections, the Congress leaders have become active here. For Siddaramaiah, retaining the Nanjangud seat is a challenge. To achieve his goal, he is contemplating fielding Mahadevappa’s son as the candidate.

Prasad, soon after quitting as MLA, had declared that he knew how to defeat Siddaramaiah. As a counter, Siddaramaiah had said that in the past, many had issued such threats but none could defeat him.

Sources close to Prasad said that he would watch the response to Siddaramaiah’s public rally in Nanjangud. Later, he himself would hold a public meeting in Nanjangud to test his strength.

It may take not less than a week’s time for Prasad to decide whether to contest the polls. In case he desires to contest, he has to decide whether he should contest as an independent or be a BJP nominee. He also has an offer from the JD(S). With Nanjangud having a sizeable Lingayat population, Prasad is inclined to join the BJP, it is said.

Usually, the ruling party has an upper hand in byelections. With Siddaramaiah himself taking keen interest in retaining the seat, Prasad is not sure what his next step should be. If he decides to keep off the election, then it would mean the end of his political career too. At this point, he may not take such a drastic decision as one of his sons-in-law is nurturing ambitions of entering politics, the sources said.

Yeddyurappa has already announced that in case Prasad joins the BJP, then the support would be only for the byelection.

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(Published 22 October 2016, 19:48 IST)

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