Karnataka   

Vishwanath may have fought his last election

MYSORE: The man who brought the former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah into the Congress fold two years ago may choose to “redefine” his political image in order to remain in election politics for some more time.

The former minister and senior Congress leader Adagooru H. Vishwanath (formerly H. Vishwanath) was defeated in the recent Assembly elections from K.R. Nagar Assembly segment.

Mr. Vishwanath, who has a love-hate relationship with the party leadership for his remarks against leaders, lost to the former MUDA chairman Sa. Ra. Mahesh of the Janata Dal (Secular).

A leader of the backward classes in the party, Mr. Vishwanath had won five of the eight elections he contested in his career spanning three decades. But the former Minister hogged the limelight because of the reforms brought in the portfolios he held, especially in the S.M. Krishna Government.

Despite his controversial remarks, there are no instances of him being strongly reprimanded by the party.

The controversy over the reference about the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and actor of yesteryear B. Saroja Devi in his autobiography Halli Hakkiya Hadu (the Song of the Village Bird) caused embarrassment to the party.

Mr. Krishna’s supporters lashed out at him since the controversy came at a time when there were speculation about Mr. Krishna’s return to State politics.

After several days of protests against Mr. Vishwanath, the issue died down because the party distanced itself from the controversy. A bitter critic of the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Mr. Vishwanath had to struggle to get the party ticket since Mr. Siddaramaiah’s confidante Manchanahalli Mahadevu, who defeated him in 2004 election in K.R. Nagar, had strongly lobbied for the ticket.

Mr. Siddaramaiah had apparently promised the former MLAs who joined the Congress along with him of getting the ticket to contest the election.

However, Mr. Siddaramaiah faced a worrisome situation especially in the case of K.R. Nagar as he had two supporters who were vying for the ticket.

Eventually, it was Mr. Vishwanath who managed to get the ticket as Mr. Siddaramaiah persuaded Mr. Mahadevu to give up.

A few days before the election, Mr. Vishwanath announced that it would be the last election of his political career.

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