While Siddaramaiah’s son and K.H. Muniyappa’s daughter won their seats, law minister Jayachandra and son Santosh both lost.
Bengaluru: Did giving tickets to the children and family members of politicians prove costly for the Congress? Judging by the results, it’s difficult to say so with certainty, but the old trend of political sons and daughters winning in a cakewalk no longer holds.
Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra won by a thumping majority from the safe seat of Varuna, even as the sitting CM lost from neighbouring Chamundeshwari, and won Badami by a slim margin of just 1,600 votes.
Read more: When it comes to dynasty politics in Karnataka, BJP can’t compete with Congress
But T.B. Jayachandra, the law minister in the outgoing Congress government, and his son Santosh, were not so lucky – both lost by huge margins. Santosh had been quite active in the youth Congress, but his name had featured in the list of those involved in illegal sand mining in Tumakuru.
He debuted as the Congress candidate from Chikkanayakanahalli, but lost. Father Jayachandra also lost from Sira, having faced flak for not attending to the needs of his constituency. He had won the seat by a margin of over 74,000 votes in 2013.
Roopa Shashidhar, daughter of Congress Lok Sabha MP K.H. Muniyappa, did win the Kolar seat, though it is often said that the seat is a ‘safe’ one for the family, as the Dalit voters consolidate behind a member of their own community.
Khaneez Fathima, wife of the late former minister Qamarul Islam, who died just before the elections were announced, won on a sympathy wave from Gulbarga (now Kalaburagi) North.
Sowmya Reddy, daughter of outgoing transport minister Ramalinga Reddy, had also filed her nomination papers from Jayanagara seat in Bengaluru, but the election got countermanded due to the death of the BJP candidate, B.N. Vijayakumar.
What of the BJP?
The most high-voltage ticket drama had taken place in the B.S. Yeddyurappa household. His son Vijayendra, who had already begun campaigning against Yathindra in Varuna, was denied a ticket by the high command.
The sudden turn of events did anger the BJP state president and chief ministerial candidate, but eventually, he conceded, giving the BJP the chance to decry dynasty politics at every stage.
