BJP’s V Somanna was campaigning in Varuna constituency of Mysuru district
Bengaluru:
Senior BJP leader V Somanna, who is set to take on Congress veteran Siddaramaiah in the May 10 assembly elections in Karnataka, faced an embarrassment on the campaign trail today.
Mr. Somanna was campaigning in Varuna constituency in Mysuru district when a group of people heckled him and questioned him over the lack of development in the area. The senior party leader, who served as Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development in the outgoing cabinet, was also the minister in charge of Mysuru district.
Visuals show villagers surrounding the minister and asking questions about the development in the constituency. Several BJP leaders, including Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, were seen trying to intervene. He was also seen asking people not to record the conversation between Somanna and the villagers.
Elected from the Govindaraj Nagar assembly constituency in the 2018 election, Somanna has been fielded this time from two seats, Varuna and Chamarajanagar.
Somanna, a former Congress leader who joined the BJP in 2009, faces the formidable Siddaramaiah in Varuna. The seat, since its creation in 2008, has supported the Congress stalwart, sending him and then his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah to the assembly. The Congress veteran is the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post if the party wins the election and his supporters will leave no stone unturned to ensure his victory in Varuna.
The BJP, however, is confident that Mr. Somanna will defeat the Congress veteran.
Addressing a party meeting in support of the BJP leader, Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai said Somanna was an icon of development.
“Varuna’s name would go beyond Mysore district and he was blessed by Goddess Chamundeshwari. V Somanna means ‘Victory’ Somanna. There have been many changes in the politics of Karnataka. Some people enjoyed power in the name of oppressed classes. ” They grew in politics but the community remained backward.
The BJP aims to tap into the Lingayat voter base in Varuna by fielding Mr. Somanna, who belongs to the community.
The senior leader recently told the media that the Varuna constituency was not new to him as he had campaigned for Siddaramaiah during the bypolls in Chamundeshwari, Mysore, when they were in the same party. “I will do my job,” he was quoted as saying in a report by news agency PTI.
The victory of veteran Congress leader is also certain. Siddaramaiah said, “I will win with the support of the people. Let Somanna or anyone contest against me… I am not worried about the opponent as I have full faith in the people of Varuna.”