Krishna Byre Gowda gets Cong ticket from Bangalore North, to take on Sadananda Gowda Union Minister and incumbent MP Sadananda Gowda had won from Bangalore North in 2014 with a comfortable margin of more than 2 lakh votes. news Lok Sabha 2019 The Congress late on Monday night named Karnataka minister Krishna Byre Gowda as its candidate for Bangalore North setting up a high profile contest with Union Minister and incumbent MP Sadananda Gowda. Other than being a minister in two successive governments, Krishna Byre Gowda represents Karnataka in the GST council. He will file his nomination at the Bengaluru DC’s office at 1pm on Tuesday, he announced on Twitter. “I am honoured to get the opportunity to file my nomination as the candidate for BLR North#LokSabha Constituency @ DC Office,Near MysoreBank Circle,KG Road. I request all the leaders,Party workers & well wishers to participate & support.Nomination filing is today 26/03/19 @ 1pm,” he tweeted. I am honoured to get the opportunity to file my nomination as the candidate for BLR North #LokSabha Constituency @ DC Office,Near MysoreBank Circle,KG Road. I request all the leaders,Party workers & well wishers to participate & support.Nomination filing is today 26/03/19 @ 1pm — Krishna Byre Gowda (@krishnabgowda) March 25, 2019 Incidentally, Byre Gowda, who is the Rural Development Minister, is a two-time MLA from Byatarayanapura segment which falls under the same Lok Sabha constituency. Bangalore North being home to many Vokkaligas may have prompted the Congress to go with a leader of the community. The Congress will also want to consolidate the significant number of minority votes in the segment. The decision to field the sitting minister comes with less than a day left to file nominations for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The last date of filing nominations for the 14 seats in Karnataka going to polls in the first phase is Tuesday. In a rather late and surprising decision, coalition partner JD(S) gave up the seat for the Congress contrary to the original seat sharing agreement between the ruling coalition in the state. Sadananda Gowda, a former CM, defeated his nearest rival C Narayana Swamy of the Congress with a comfortable margin of over two lakh votes in 2014, riding the Modi wave. Until then, he had won both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in coastal Karnataka. Meanwhile, in May 2018 assembly elections, Byre Gowda managed to retain his seat by a slim margin of 5,671 votes against BJP’s A Ravi. A few days earlier, speculation was rife that sitting MP and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda might contest from Bangalore North. Sensing this possibility, with Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna being given the JD(S) fiefdom of Hassan for his electoral debut, Sadananda Gowda last week had spoken about not being afraid to contest against the former PM.<doc-sep>Bengaluru: With Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency back in the Congress kitty after the JD(S) backed off from fielding a candidate, the Congress moved swiftly to name emerging Vokkaliga face, Krishna Byre Gowda, as their candidate for the seat, late on Monday. With Mr Byre Gowda's name being announced by none other than Congress Legislature Party leader, Siddaramaiah, it has set the stage for a high octane poll battle between the rural development and panchayat raj minister and the BJP's sitting MP and incumbent Union minister for planning and statistics, D. V. Sadananda Gowda, who is seeking re-election from the seat. Mr Byre Gowda will file his nominations on Tuesday and former prime minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, is expected to accompany him along with senior Congress leaders. Mr Byre Gowda has a key advantage over his rival and former chief minister in this constituency, as his own Assembly seat, Byatarayanapura, is part of this segment. In addition, the sect of Vokkaligas to which he belongs, constitute a significant part of the electorate while his late father's C Byre Gowda stellar contributions still lingers in the minds of voters. Apart from this, Mr Krishna himself is popular among the young IT community and urban voters and millennials because of his presence on social media. Although, Mr Byregowda's first outing as Congress Lok Sabha candidate against Bharatiya Janata Party strongman late H.N. Ananth Kumar in 2009 was not successful, he gave the late Mr Kumar a run for his money. He also came out with a campaign to attract urban youth - Coffee with Krishna - which turned out be a big hit among IT crowd then. Other than these factors, more importantly five out of eight constituencies are represented by Congress while two are represented by the Janata Dal (Secular) and of the 55 total BBMP wards, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) together won 33 wards. Hence, this seat ideally looks safe for the Congress candidate, provided all Congress leaders work unitedly. With the Janata Dal (Secular) leaders freeing the seat for the Congress only by Sunday midnight, the Congress homed in on Krishna Byre Gowda.<doc-sep>Troubles seem to be mounting for the Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka after the southern ally, unable to find a 'suitable' candidate, returned the Bangalore North seat to the Congress. Announcing the move, AICC General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge KC Venugopal thanked the JD(S) on Twitter. "@INCIndia is thankful to Shri H D Deve Gowda ji and the JD(S) for their kind gesture of giving back the Bengaluru North Lok Sabha seat to the Congress. Together, let us reclaim democracy," read his tweet. The alliance has been facing several roadblocks, with the JD(S) now realising it has no candidates to put up from its share of eight seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The JD(S) had initially demanded 12 of the 28 Lok Sabha. The demand had stunned the state Congress leaders, especially since the Gowda clan is an actual force in only six districts in the old Mysore region. After deliberations, Congress President Rahul Gandhi ceded eight seats to the JD(S) and the state unit reluctantly agreed to honour the deal. While getting the seats was easy, the Gowdas now face a crisis. The sub-regional party has no candidates and no organisational structure in five of the eight seats. With the last date to file nominations around the corner, Gowda’s party has approached the Congress and requested it to “loan” candidates to fight on the JD(S) symbol.<doc-sep>
Krishna Byre Gowda is a legislator in the state assembly from Byatarayanapura segment Congress on Monday night named its Karnataka Minister Krishna Byre Gowda as the party candidate to contest from the high-profile Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency on April 18. "The central election committee has approved the candidature of Krishna Byre Gowda as Congress candidate for the ensuing general election to the Lok Sabha from Bangalore North parliamentary constituency in Karnataka," said the party in a statement from New Delhi, quoting the panel's in-charge and party general secretary Mukul Wasnik. The 45-year-old Gowda is the Rural Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the ruling JD-S-Congress coalition government since May 2018. He is a legislator in the state assembly from Byatarayanapura segment in the city's northwest area. Mr Gowda will take on Union Minister and sitting Lok Sabha member D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who won the prestigious seat in the 2014 general elections. The party named Byre Gowda to contest from Bangalore North a day after the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) surrendered it in the absence of a winning candidate. As part of the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties, the Congress will contest in 21 Lok Sabha seats, instead of 20, and the JD-S in seven, instead of eight. Congress general secretary and party's state unit in-charge K.C. Venugopal said his party was thankful to JD-S supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and the JD-S for the gesture to give up the Bangalore North seat in his party's favour. "Together let us all reclaim democracy," Mr Venugopal tweeted.