Date:02/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/02/stories/2009010253880400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Madhugiri victory important for JD(S)

Laiqh A. Khan

The party’s other electoral successes were in Maddur and Turuvekere segments

The electoral battle in Madhugiri had attracted widespread interest
Any adverse result in Madhugiri would have hit Janata Dal (S) image

Anita Kumaraswamy

BANGALORE: The victory of Janata Dal (S) in Madhugiri Assembly constituency in Tumkur district appears to taste sweeter for the party than its triumph in Maddur and Turuvekere.

For, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita Kumaraswamy notched up her maiden electoral triumph to join her husband in the State Assembly. In the process, she humbled former Minister C. Chennigappa, a close aide of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who quit the Janata Dal (S) and contested the bypolls on the BJP ticket.

The battle for Madhugiri attracted widespread interest in view of the presence of Ms. Kumaraswamy in the fray.

“We attach special significance to the party’s victory in Madhugiri. When a former Prime Minister’s daughter-in-law, who was initially reluctant to take a plunge into politics, has been forced to enter the fray, naturally a lot of prestige will be at stake. The party would have suffered a serious setback had the result in Madhugiri gone the other way,” working president of the Janata Dal (S) State unit C. Narayanaswamy told The Hindu.

Mr. Narayanaswamy said the battle for Madhugiri was more crucial for the party than the bypolls held in Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency in Mysore about two years ago.

Party leaders recall the refusal of the BJP Government to relieve from duty senior official Veerabhadraiah, who had sought voluntary retirement to contest the bypolls as the Janata Dal (S) candidate from Madhugiri. “After the Government refused to relieve Mr. Veerabhadraiah, the people of Madhugiri brought pressure on the party leadership to field Ms. Kumaraswamy. A reluctant Ms. Kumaraswamy was eventually forced to enter the fray,” Mr. Narayanaswamy said.

The fierce campaigning witnessed during the run-up to the bypolls in Madhugiri evoked memories of the bypolls to the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency when the Janata Dal (S) went all out in its bid to defeat former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who had parted ways with Mr. Deve Gowda and joined the Congress.

But, Ms. Kumaraswamy clearly has a huge challenge before her. For, she represents Madhugiri, which is classified as a “highly backward region” by the D.M. Nanjundappa Committee report. Madhugiri forms part of the dry and rain shadow belt of Rayalaseema, where the prospects are poor for agriculture or industrialisation.