In Mysore, amid royal debutant vs Congress lightweight battle, Siddaramaiah ups the ante, plays Vokkaliga card

The Mysore Lok Sabha seat in the Vokkaliga-dominated South Karnataka is heading for a fierce contest as the BJP has fielded the scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal family, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, 32, from the constituency, which is part of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s home turf. The BJP dropped its sitting MP Pratap Simha to bring in Yaduveer Wadiyar. Simha had won the seat in the 2014 and 2019 polls by defeating the Congress candidates by over 31,000 votes and about 1.38 lakh votes respectively.

Making his debut, Yaduveer Wadiyar will take on Congress candidate Lakshman M, the 59-year-old engineer-turned-politician and Vokkaliga face. While the BJP, which has allied with the JD(S) for the Lok Sabha polls this time, is going all out to retain the seat, the Congress also seems to be leaving no stone unturned to wrest it in what has become a prestige battle for Siddaramaiah.

In the 2023 Assembly polls, which the Congress clinched to oust the BJP from power, the Congress bagged five of the eight Assembly segments falling under the Mysore Lok Sabha constituency, which include Madikeri, Virajpet, Periyapatna, Chamaraja and Narasimharaja. Of the remaining three Assembly seats, the JD(S) got two, Hasanuru and Chamundeshwari, while the BJP won Krishnaraja.

Siddaramaiah has been extensively campaigning in the Old Mysuru region over which he holds sway. He has himself underlined the significance of the Mysore poll outcome not only for this parliamentary election but also for the state politics in the coming days. He has indicated that a loss or a narrow win in Mysore and the neighbouring Chamarajanagar constituency may have a bearing on his chief ministership ahead. “If you give me a lead of over 60,000 (in both