Bangalore: Chiranjeevi likely to contest from Chikkaballapur

Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Mar 10: In what may come as a surprise to many, the Congress is likely to field union tourism minister Chiranjeevi in Chikkaballapur, of which union minister Dr Veerappa Moily is the sitting MP. Moily was earlier touted as the Lok Sabha candidate from the constituency, but the absence of his name from the party's first list of candidates, especially when all other sitting Congress MPs in the state have been fielded, has given rise to much speculation.

According to highly placed sources, during the last general elections Moily managed to win the constituency due to weak candidates fielded by both the JD(S) and the BJP. However, this time these two parties in a bid to fulfill their dreams of winning the parliamentary elections have reportedly decided to field strong candidates to decimate Moily, in other words, the Congress. This is also the reason for the Congress to not announce Moily as a candidate from this constituency, source said.

In the much-awaited 2014 general elections, JD(S) has decided to field Anitha Kumaraswamy and as far as BJP is concerned, B N Bacchegowda will contest from the constituency. It is said that Moily himself may be reluctant to face the competition from the strong opposition candidates.

Moreover, Chikkaballapur is dominated by the Balija community. Chiranjeevi who hails from the same community may have a better chance to woo the voters and give tough competition to his counterparts from the JD(S) and the BJP. It is said that after the chaos over Telangana, Chiranjeevi has diverted his attention to Karnataka to yet again reserve his seat in the parliament.

The fact that Congress withheld Moily's name from the first list of candidates stands testimony to the party's reluctance to field him. Superstar Chiranjeevi meanwhile is said to be readying himself to test his luck from the controversial turf, that is if the Congress top brass gives its nod.