Congress is yet to decide on candidate for C’patna bypoll: Dinesh Gundu Rao

Mysuru: Health and family welfare minister Dinesh Gundu Rao stated that party is yet to take a decision on its candidate for the Channapatna bypoll.
“The party has formed a committee under the chairmanship of agriculture minister N Cheluvarayaswamy. This committee will meet the party activists and leaders from Channapatna, and submit a report. The party high command will take a decision based on this report," he said.
Replying to union minister HD Kumaraswamy's allegation that DK Shivakumar visited Channapatna after a gap of 15 months just to seek votes, the minister stated that as a MP DK Suresh was in the constituency always.“KPCC president DK Shivakumar visited the constituency to infuse confidence among the party cadres and leaders. Suresh has contributed a lot to the development of the constituency. So, I will not react to such statements,” he said.
Dinesh Gundu Rao also appealed to the people to follow the guidelines issued by the health department on containing the dengue fever. “Dengue is under control. Due to the rain, cases have been reported from several districts,” he said.
JD(S) must field Nikhil from
Channapatna, says party MLC
CN Manjegowda, a JD(S) MLC, on Saturday appealed to the party leadership to nominate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, as the NDA candidate for the upcoming Channapatna assembly constituency by-election.
“Our wish is that Nikhil should contest from this constituency,” Manjegowda stated, expressing his belief that the BJP will concede the Channapatna assembly constituency to their party.
In the 2023 assembly election, HD Kumaraswamy emerged victorious in the Channapatna constituency, which is located in Ramanagara district. However, he subsequently resigned from his position as an MLA after securing a win in the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency. Nikhil Kumaraswamy, on the other hand, suffered consecutive defeats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Mandya and the 2023 assembly election in the Ramanagara constituency.
Manjegowda claimed that the people of Channapatna are opposed to the idea of DCM DK Shivakumar contesting in the by-election. "If he contests, people will teach him a lesson," he warned.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and former minister CP Yogeshwar is also vying for the party ticket. As of now, neither the BJP nor the JD(S) has decided on which party will field its candidate in this constituency, which is considered a stronghold of the Vokkaliga community.