Ramya is Cong candidate for Mandya

• Anitha Kumaraswamy to take on D K Suresh in Bangalore Rural

Bangalore, 04 Auguat 2013: Byelections to the Ramangara and Mandya Lok Sabha constituencies are turning into a bitter fight between the ruling Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), with at least three high-profile candidates filing their nominations on Saturday.

 

The Congress fielded film actress Ramya (Divya Spandana) for the Mandya seat, while Anitha, wife of JD(S) State president H D Kumaraswamy, filed her papers in Ramanagara.

She will face D K Suresh, brother of Congress MLA D K Shivakumar. Ramya will take on seasoned politician C S Puttaraju of the JD(S).

Both parties have fielded Vokkaligas, as the community has a strong presence in Ramanagara and Mandya.

Saturday was the last date for filing of nomination papers which will be scrutinised on August 8. The elections are scheduled for August 21.

The BJP, which has no base in both the constituencies, has also fielded candidates. Interestingly, the party has two candidates from Bangalore Rural. M Krishnappa, MLA from Bangalore South constituency, and T Muniraju, the BJP Ramanagara district unit office-bearer, have filed their papers for the Ramanagara constituency. However, there is no information on who got the ‘B’ form.

“Fielding two candidates is our strategy,” State party president Pralhad Joshi told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.

Krishnappa is the brother of M Srinivas who lost the Assembly election from the Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency. Former minister and MLA R Ashoka accompanied the nominees while they filed their papers.

In Mandya, the BJP’s nominee is Doreswamy, a long-time party worker and advocate.
It is said that though a section of the BJP and JD (S) leaders wanted to fight the polls together, JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda had opposed it.

He did not want to send a wrong message to the minorities who are in large numbers in Channapatna and Ramanagara which forms part of the Bangalore Rural constituency. Hence, the BJP has fielded its own candidates, it is said.

In Ramanagara, accompanying Anitha to the office of the returning officer, Deve Gowda said: “Our fight in the two constituencies is against both the Congress and the BJP. There is no internal agreement between the JD(S) and the BJP,” he clarified.

However, Joshi said talks were still on with the JD(S). “Based on Kumaraswamy’s suggestion, we are still looking for a unified Opposition to fight the Congress,” he said.
D K Shivakumar, KPCC president G Parameshwara, AICC general secretary B K Hariprasad and Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi were among those present while D K Suresh filed his nomination.

In Mandya, Minister Ambareesh, MLA P M Narendraswamy and others accompanied Ramya to the DC’s office where she submitted her papers.

The Congress leaders were on tenterhooks as the film star had not brought her papers along with her. Eventually, she completed the formalities by 2.45 pm.

MLA K S Puttanaiah of Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha has fielded Nandini Jayaram who will be facing Ramya and Puttaraju in Mandya.

In an interview to the media, Kumaraswamy said the fight in Bangalore Rural was not against Shivakumar, but against the Congress party. “The byelections are like a trial by fire for the party. We will try to sound the bugle of triumph and growth of the party by winning in these two constituencies,” he said.

Assets statement

Actor Ramya has a house worth Rs two crore in Shantinagar in Bangalore, as declared in the statement filed along with her nomination papers. She has shown an income of Rs 61.41 lakh in returns filed with the Income Tax department.

She has shown liabilities, in the form of housing loan, to the tune of Rs 52.23 lakh. She has immovable properties totally valued at Rs 15.92 lakh, including Rs 50,000 in cash, Rs 1.7 lakh in savings account and 450 gm of gold jewellery (worth Rs 13.71 lakh).