BENGALURU: The BJP on Saturday announced ex-minister Baburao Chinchansur, a former Congress functionary, as its candidate for the byelection to the lone legislative council seat from the assembly.
The bypoll was necessitated after CM Ibrahim resigned from the Congress to join JD(S). Ibrahim was miffed after Congress denied him the opposition leader’s post in the upper house.
On Friday, the BJP central election committee cleared the name of Chinchansur, a five-time MLA and once close confidant of senior Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge. He joined the BJP after he lost the 2018 assembly polls in Gurmitkal, alleging that Kharge had worked against him.
Chinchansur, who belongs to the backward Koli community, later played a vital role in Kharge’s defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by making the latter’s detractors in the Congress defect to BJP. This included Umesh Jadhav, who defeated Kharge in the polls.
“The party chose Chinchansur keeping an eye on the 2023 assembly elections, as the Koli community plays a decisive role in some assembly segments in Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Bidar districts,” said a BJP functionary.
Chinchansur, who served as a minister in the SM Krishna- and Siddaramaiah-led Congress governments, is expected to sail through the election, to be held on August 11, owing to BJP’s majority in the assembly, as MLAs are the voters in this poll.
The Congress and JD(S) are still undecided on fielding a candidate. The new member will have a tenure till May 2024.
