NEW DELHI: With just over a fortnight remaining for the first phase of polling in Karnataka, Bangalore Rural, which has elected the same candidate thrice, is hotting up with NDA pushing a renowned cardiologist from a leading political family into the fray. TOI caught up with Congress’ DK Suresh, the three-time MP vying to retain the seat and the man some describe as the strategist behind his brother DK Shivakumar.He says his opposition candidate is only “incidental”, stresses on his report card as an MP, his party’s guarantees and BJP’s injustice.
Excerpts:
Fielding of Dr CN Manjunath has brought intrigue to the segment, do you see an impact?
■ No. Coming from former PM HD Deve Gowda’s family, politics may not be alien to Dr Manjunath, but he’s trying to be a politician for the first time. His candidature is incidental, they are seeking votes in the name of Modi and not the candidate. And if his family had any confidence in him or themselves, they would have negotiated for Bangalore Rural as part of their seat sharing and not field him on a BJP ticket.
So, are we looking at a Suresh Vs Modi battle?
■ You can say that. It’s me versus BJP, that’s something even the candidate concedes. He’s publicly said that the party or the constituency were not his choices and their entire campaign revolves around Modi. Even former CM HD Kumaraswamy is not confident of garnering votes in his brother-in-law’s name.
In the run-up to polls, your statement about a separate statehood became controversial, your views now?
■ BJP will project it the way it may deem beneficial, but I didn’t say anything wrong. As an Indian, I was only pointing to the gross injustices being meted out to Karnataka and our neighbours in the South. It’s not just about the current devolution issue that we’re taking to the voters, we’re pointing out the overall attitude of BJP towards the South and if we don’t respond effectively, there will be injustice even in the next delimitation process. These issues are resonating not just with voters but also with Kannadigas within BJP, they just can’t say it out loud.
You’ve not had great leads in urban areas (RR Nagar & B’lore South) & NDA says that may swing polls their way
■ You will see on May 7 that both these segments will give me leads unlike before. In fact, my overall performance will be better than the last three times. BJP and JD(S) leaders may be putting up a fight but their groundlevel workers are with me. Even they want to see me win. Earlier, apartments wouldn’t entertain us during campaigning, this time, they are inviting me to their complexes. They’ve realised that if they need infrastructure to match their urban status, it can only be delivered by me. That my brother is DCM will also help in these areas.
What gives you such confidence?
■ It’s my report card as an MP. I’ve worked relentlessly for the people of my constituency in particular and raised issues that matter to Karnataka at the national level. Voters will value this. There’s also our party’s guarantees that have worked, while the overall narrative that the time to act has come if people want to save our democracy will work in my favour. Voters are discussing these issues, it doesn’t matter what BJP thinks.
Excerpts:
Fielding of Dr CN Manjunath has brought intrigue to the segment, do you see an impact?
■ No. Coming from former PM HD Deve Gowda’s family, politics may not be alien to Dr Manjunath, but he’s trying to be a politician for the first time. His candidature is incidental, they are seeking votes in the name of Modi and not the candidate. And if his family had any confidence in him or themselves, they would have negotiated for Bangalore Rural as part of their seat sharing and not field him on a BJP ticket.
So, are we looking at a Suresh Vs Modi battle?
■ You can say that. It’s me versus BJP, that’s something even the candidate concedes. He’s publicly said that the party or the constituency were not his choices and their entire campaign revolves around Modi. Even former CM HD Kumaraswamy is not confident of garnering votes in his brother-in-law’s name.
In the run-up to polls, your statement about a separate statehood became controversial, your views now?
■ BJP will project it the way it may deem beneficial, but I didn’t say anything wrong. As an Indian, I was only pointing to the gross injustices being meted out to Karnataka and our neighbours in the South. It’s not just about the current devolution issue that we’re taking to the voters, we’re pointing out the overall attitude of BJP towards the South and if we don’t respond effectively, there will be injustice even in the next delimitation process. These issues are resonating not just with voters but also with Kannadigas within BJP, they just can’t say it out loud.
You’ve not had great leads in urban areas (RR Nagar & B’lore South) & NDA says that may swing polls their way
■ You will see on May 7 that both these segments will give me leads unlike before. In fact, my overall performance will be better than the last three times. BJP and JD(S) leaders may be putting up a fight but their groundlevel workers are with me. Even they want to see me win. Earlier, apartments wouldn’t entertain us during campaigning, this time, they are inviting me to their complexes. They’ve realised that if they need infrastructure to match their urban status, it can only be delivered by me. That my brother is DCM will also help in these areas.
What gives you such confidence?
■ It’s my report card as an MP. I’ve worked relentlessly for the people of my constituency in particular and raised issues that matter to Karnataka at the national level. Voters will value this. There’s also our party’s guarantees that have worked, while the overall narrative that the time to act has come if people want to save our democracy will work in my favour. Voters are discussing these issues, it doesn’t matter what BJP thinks.