The Hindu : Karnataka News : Srinivas Prasad set to enter State politics

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Karnataka

Karnataka

Srinivas Prasad set to enter State politics

Laiqh A Khan

The former Union Minister files his papers from Nanjangud

He is a five-time MP from Chamarajanagar
He has a large following among Dalits of the region

V. Srinivas Prasad

MYSORE: The former Union Minister V. Srinivas Prasad has marked his entry into State politics by filing his nomination papers as Congress candidate from Nanjangud (reserved) Assembly constituency in Mysore.

A five-time Lok Sabha member from Chamarajanagar (reserved) constituency, Mr Prasad’s return to the Congress fold and his subsequent entry into State politics is widely expected to make a significant impact in the coming Assembly elections in undivided Mysore- Chamarajanagar district.

A leader with a large following among Dalits of the region, Mr. Prasad will be taking on Bharatiya Janata Party’s S. Mahadevaiah and Janata Dal (Secular) candidate Keshavamurthy in an essentially triangular contest in Nanjangud, which was converted from a general constituency into a reserved one during the recent delimitation exercise. Nanjangud Assembly constituency, however, is part of Chamarajanagar (reserved) Lok Sabha constituency from where he had been elected for five of his seven attempts.

Mr. Prasad had begun his political career by unsuccessfully contesting from Krishnaraja Assembly constituency in Mysore during the early seventies. His tryst with electoral politics of the Lok Sabha began on a winning note when he emerged victorious from Chamarajanagar segment in 1980.

His winning streak in Chamarajanagar continued for the next three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. But, his apparent invincibility was shattered by the then Janata Dal candidate Siddaraju, who put it across him in Chamarajanagar during the 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha polls. Before the 1996 polls, Mr. Prasad had quit the Congress after criticising the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Mr. Prasad next joined the Lok Shakti headed by the former Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, which later merged with the Janata Dal (United).

He bounced back into political reckoning by winning the Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha seat as Janata Dal (United) candidate during 1999 and went onto to become a Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Subsequently, Mr. Prasad became part of the Samata Party, led by the former Union Minister George Fernandes.

But, ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, he went into political hibernation and stayed away from the electoral fray.

Though he began identifying himself with the Janata Dal (Secular) in the post-2004 election scenario, Mr Prasad came out of the party in protest against the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s “family politics”.

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