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In Karnataka bypoll fray, a third-gen face from Bommai family, wife of Bellary MP

While Bharath is fighting from his father Basavaraj Bommai's Shiggaon seat, Cong MP Tukaram's wife Annapurna is contesting his Sandur seat

Bharath Bommai and E Annapurna

Despite drawing criticism from their rivals over “dynasty politics”, several leading parties have never shied away from fielding various family members of their influential leaders across multiple elections over the years.

Three Assembly seats in Karnataka are going to bypolls on November 13, which include Channapatna, Sandur and Shiggaon after their MLAs vacated the seats following their victory in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

For these bypolls, three candidates from influential political families, cutting across party lines, are in the fray, of which two nominees – Bharath Bommai and E Annapurna – are making their debut.

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Bharath Bommai

BJP leader and former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai resigned as the Shiggaon MLA after winning from the Haveri constituency in the Lok Sabha polls. The party has now fielded his son Bharath Bommai for the Shiggaon bypoll.

Bharath, 35, is a third-generation politician. He is the grandson of S R Bommai, another former CM known for the S R Bommai vs Union of India case in which the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in March 1994 to curb the arbitrary dismissal of the state governments under Article 356. Bharath was then one-month-old infant, according to his profile released by the BJP soon after his nomination.

Bharath’s candidature has caused heartburn among some local BJP ticket aspirants like Srikant Dundigowdar who said the former was never engaged in party activities.

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Bharath is a resident of R T Nagar in Bengaluru, as per his profile. The Shiggaon constituency is located 370 km away from the state capital.

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Prior to his poll debut, Bharath was part of various business ventures after completing his Bachelor of Engineering from Purdue University in the United States, and MBA from Singapore Management University. He largely kept a low profile during his father’s tenure as the CM in the previous BJP government. He is associated with several companies.

E Annapurna

The Congress has fielded E Annapurna, 50, from her husband E Tukaram’s Sandur seat that he vacated after winning the Lok Sabha polls from Bellary.

Congress sources said her candidature was part of the party’s “agreement” with Tukaram that either Annapurna or their daughter Sowparnika would be fielded from Sandur in the event of his win from the Bellary parliamentary constituency.

Annapurna campaigned for her husband when he fought the Lok Sabha polls. She has always kept a low-profile, even as Tukaram has been a former minister and four-time MLA.

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Annapurna had completed her graduation in Arts in 2014 from Kuvempu University, Shivamogga. Another dynast in contention is Nikhil Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), son of Union minister and ex-CM H D Kumaraswamy, who has been fielded by the party from Channapatna. H D Kumaraswamy vacated this seat after he won from Mandya in the Lok Sabha polls. This is actor-turned- politician Nikhil’s third election, after having lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2023 Assembly elections.