Soundarya Ramesh to follow in the footsteps of Nagaraj Shetty?

Bantwal, Apr 1: With B Nagaraj Shetty enjoying a BJP homecoming after having spent some time with the JD(S), the word doing rounds is that Soundarya Ramesh, who is being touted as a JD(S) MLA candidate, is likely to follow suit.

A closed door meeting involving Mr. Ramesh, BJP leaders, and representatives of Kulal community at Soundarya Palace in Kateel with regard to roping in Mr. Ramesh to the BJP fold is said to have been a success. Members of the Kulal community reportedly placed some of their demands before the BJP leaders. The same would be brought to the notice of Kalladka high command and if given a green signal, Mr. Ramesh will quit JD(S) and join the lotus camp, it is said.

The Bantwal constituency, many say is the 'Kulal Kashi' as there are about 22,000 Kulal voters in the region. Kulal vote bank is considered decisive in constituencies such as Bantwal, Kapu, Surathkal, Udupi and Ullal constituencies. Among these, Bantwal is where the Kulal hold stands out in utmost prominence. Barring a few reforms during the period of Devraj Urs and recently B S Yeddyurappa and D V Sadananda Gowda, no government has addressed the problems of Kulal community, grouse leaders in the Kulal community. Hence, the Kulal community wants to ensure that they are taken note of this time around and are accordingly playing the Soundarya Ramesh card.

The JD(S) which has already been jolted due to the exit of M G Hegde and others, is in danger of further damage if Mr. Ramesh chooses to shift base with the saffron party. It was being speculated that under B Nagaraj Shetty's patronage, Mr. Ramesh would be fielded as the MLA candidate from JD(S). But recent developments have messed up JD(S)'s calculation's big time thereby demoralising the party activists of Bantwal constituency.

In case, Mr. Ramesh goes out of the equation, the JD(S) will have to face a fresh headache of selecting a candidate for Bantwal. Those in the race include Krishnappa Poojary, President of Yuva Janata Dal, Muhammad Shafi and T K Bashir.

On the other hand B Nagaraj Shetty with his exit from the JD(S) has not impressed his 'former' colleagues. JD(S) activists are miffed with Mr. Shetty's decision to go back to BJP, his maternal party. Mr. Shetty has not only created chaos in the JD(S) by quitting when elections are just days away, but is also trying to now drag several people from the JD(S) camp to BJP, party activists are complaining.