Former Minister A.H. Vishwanath, who had lost the byelections to the Assembly from Hunsur in Mysuru recently, is believed to have stepped up his efforts to secure a nomination to the Legislative Council.
A day after Minister for Municipal Administration, Horticulture and Sericulture Narayan Gowda expressed optimism of Mr. Vishwanath securing the nomination, Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha MP V. Srinivas Prasad told reporters in Mysuru that Mr. Vishwanath had met Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa in Bengaluru in the regard.
Mr. Prasad also recalled that there was a “one-to-one meeting” between Mr. Vishwanath and Mr. Yediyurappa before the former joined the BJP last year. However, he said the matter was left entirely to the party high command and even cited the example of the recent nomination to the Rajya Sabha by the party’s Parliamentary Board, which had overruled the recommendation made by the State core committee.
It may be mentioned here that Mr. Vishwanath, who was in the vanguard of the rebellion by the coalition MLAs last year, was assured a berth in the Ministry after a nomination to the Council. But, he had changed his mind and instead sought to contest the by-elections to the Assembly from Hunsur and had lost. It remains to be seen if he manages to secure nomination to the Council.
Former MP C.H. Vijayshankar too is among the aspirants from Mysuru region for nomination to the Council. After his recent plea for a nomination to the Rajya Sabha did not yield results, he is hoping for a berth in the Council, which he represented from 2010 to 2016.
