TNN

Bangalore, Dec 8: JD (S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Sunday announced his daughter-in-law Anita Kumaraswamy will contest against former minister C Chennigappa from Madhugiri assembly constituency in the by-poll to be held on December 27.

Bowing down to pressure from party workers of Madhugiri, Gowda announced the decision at a convention held at Lal Bahadur Shastri Grounds in Madhugiri on Sunday. The meeting was specially convened to elicit opinion from party members on selecting the candidate.

Hundreds of JD(S) workers had recently camped outside Gowda's residence, demanding he field Anita against Chennigappa, who defected to BJP. He had promised a decision after eliciting response from everyone in the party.

On Sunday, Gowda appealed to the supporters for time till Monday morning to take a suitable decision on the candidature, but the workers did not allow it. The by-poll arose due to the resignation of D C Gowri Shankar, Chennigappa's son.

JD(S) state unit president H D Kumaraswamy said he might not spend much time on campaigning in Madhugiri as he has to campaign in the other seven assembly constituencies too. He promised he will ensure Madhugiri is one of th best developed constituencies in the state.