K’taka Congress picks Jayachandra and Kusuma for Nov 3 bypolls
Bengaluru: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Wednesday cleared the names of former minister T.B. Jayachandra and H. Kusuma, the wife of late IAS officer D.K. Ravi, to contest the November 3 bypolls in Sira and Rajarajeshwari Nagara Assembly constituencies, respectively.
The Sira constituency in Tumkaru district is going for polls following the death of the incumbent JD(S) legislator, B. Satyanarayana, due to multiple organ failure.
In RR Nagara, incumbent legislator Muniratna Naidu had crossed over to the ruling BJP after resigning from the Congress about a year-and-a-half ago.
The last date for filing nomination is October 16, while the votes will be counted on November 10.
Kusuma had joined the Congress recently. Her husband D.K. Ravi was found dead at his residence in March 2015.
The then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered a CBI probe into the matter after allegations of harassment were levelled against some Congress MLAs. However, the CBI enquiry concluded that Ravi had ended his own life.
Jayachandra had previously represented the Sira constituency twice in 2008 and 2013, defeating A.B. Sathyanarayana of JD(S), who turned the cards and defeated him in the 2018 Assembly polls.
The JD(S) has decided to field the widow of late MLA Ammajamma from Sira.
The Congress and JD(S) have so far been the two strong opponents while the BJP is yet to make a mark in the constituency.
The BJP is yet to announce its candidates for both the constituencies, while the JD(S) has conspicuously remained silent on announcing its candidate for the RR Nagara seat.
