The Hindu : Karnataka News : From one ‘outsider’ to another

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Wednesday, Dec 24, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

From one ‘outsider’ to another

Laiqh A. Khan

MADHUGIRI (Tumkur district): Notwithstanding it being a highly backward region, Madhugiri Assembly constituency has emerged as a high-stakes political battleground for “outsiders” seeking to enter the Legislative Assembly.

The December 27 byelection in Madhugiri constituency grabbed popular attention ever since Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, entered the fray as the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate to take on the former JD(S) Minister C. Chennigappa, who has been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the byelection.

For discerning voters in the constituency, the byelection, coming less than seven months after the Assembly elections in May, is no more than a continuation of “musical chairs of sorts”. From the time that Madhugiri constituency was converted from a reserved constituency into a general one, the taluk, which has been identified as “highly backward” by the D.M. Nanjundappa committee, has seen its representative changing from “one outsider to another”.

Saturday’s byelection will not give the voters a native representative as the candidates fielded by all the three mainstream parties — the Congress, the JD(S) and the BJP — hail from outside Madhugiri.

The former Minister G. Parameshwar, from Gollahalli in nearby Tumkur taluk, represented Madhugiri for three terms, including two successive ones, from 1999 to 2008. However, when Madhugiri was classified as a general constituency ahead of the May 2008 elections, Dr. Parameshwar shifted to neighbouring Koratagere.

The field opened up for local candidates from the general category who had been nursing hopes of becoming an MLA.

However, it was the former Minister C. Chennigappa’s son, D.C. Gowrishankar, from neighbouring Koratagere, who entered the fray as the JD(S) candidate and emerged triumphant. Within months of the election, Mr. Gowrishankar resigned his seat and joined the BJP, forcing the byelection.

While Congress candidate N. Rajanna is a native of Kyatsandra in Tumkur taluk, BJP candidate C. Chennigappa is a native of Koratagere. JD(S) candidate Anitha Kumaraswamy has made Bangalore her home for several years now although she claims that she is a native of Madhugiri because her mother hails from the place.

Though there are 25 candidates contesting in Madhugiri, a large number of the contestants are regarded as “dummy” candidates, who have no chance of winning. There are five Rajannas and two Anithas in the fray. The other reason major political parties are believed to sponsor the candidature of little-known contestants is to “adjust” the election expenditure since the Election Commission has limited it to a maximum of Rs. 10 lakh for each candidate.

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