Karnataka bypolls: BJP-JD(S) coalition fields Union minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil from Channapatna seat

The third constituency out for polls on November 13 is Sandur, where Annapurna, wife of Lok Sabha MP E Tukaram, will take on Bangaru Hanumanthu of the BJP. Elections for all three constituencies are being held as MLAs from these constituencies – Kumaraswamy from Channapatna, Bommai from Shiggaon and Tukaram from Sandur – resigned from the Assembly after winning the Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress, which announced its two candidates – C P Yogeshwar for Channapatna and E Annapurna for Sandur – on Wednesday evening fielded Yasir Khan Pathan as its candidate from the Shiggaon constituency. Pathan had lost the 2023 Assembly elections against Basavaraj Bommai.

Though the official announcement of Nikhil as the Channapatna candidate was done by BJP Parliamentary Board member B S Yediyurappa following a meeting with H D Kumaraswamy, Gowda had told reporters earlier in the day that Nikhil would file his nomination papers on Friday.

This will be his third election, having lost the first two polls. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Nikhil had lost from the Mandya constituency against Independent candidate Sumalatha and in the 2023 Assembly polls, he lost at the Ramanagara constituency to Iqbal Hussain of the Congress.

He will face a stiff contest at Channapatna against former minister and BJP MLC C P Yogeshwar, who joined Congress on Tuesday, amidst uncertainties over his candidature from the BJP-JD(S) coalition. Yogeshwar filed his nomination papers on Thursday.

Kumaraswamy told the reporters following the announcement that leaders from both the parties arrived at a consensus to have Nikhil as the candidate. To a question, he said that though he had agreed to field Yogeshwar as the BJP candidate from Channapatna, he was advised by BJP national president J P Nadda to field a JD(S) candidate so that the alliance is not affected.