Channapatna ‘regrets’ choosing minister HDK

Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar expressed confidence that Congress candidate CP Yogeshwar will win the upcoming Channapatna by-poll slated for Wednesday since people were regretting voting him out.

- Maqsood Maniyar

The minister was referring to the fact that Yogeshwar, a five-time Channapatna MLA, was displaced by JD(S) bigwig HD Kumaraswamy in 2018. Moreover, the same result was repeated in 2023.

However, Kumaraswamy had to vacate Channapatna after he contested from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat upon the BJP high command's insistence and won convincingly.

He also went on to land the coveted Heavy Industries portfolio in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet.

Yogeshwar expected to land the Channapatna ticket as the lone National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate but differences cropped up, leading to him jumping ship to the Congress and landing the party candidacy for the seat. JD(S), on the other hand, fielded party state youth wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy.