A file photo of Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Madhu Bangarappa.
| Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI
Karnataka’s Minister for School Education Madhu Bangarappa has said his sister Geetha Shivarajkumar will defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections in Shivamogga, and that will be her reply to the defeat of their father and former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa’s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls in 2009.
In a media conference in Shivamogga on April 17, Mr. Madhu Bangarappa said, “My father S. Bangarappa joined the BJP and contested for Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency. Because of his entry into the BJP, the party benefited. Both B.S. Yediyurappa and K.S. Eshwarappa, who had lost in the 1999 Assembly elections, were elected to the Assembly with the support of S. Bangarappa.”
Referring to BJP candidate B.Y. Raghavendra’s repeated comment that S. Bangarappa was once elected to the Lok Sabha on the BJP ticket, Mr. Madhu Bangarappa said, “S. Bangarappa joined the BJP in 2004 and won. However, he left that party within a few months, and won the by-election in 2005 as well. Let me make it clear: we are not indebted to the BJP. Instead, it is the BJP that owes its growth in Karnataka to S. Bangarappa.”
B.Y. Raghavendra defeated S. Bangarappa in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. “However, this time my sister will defeat him,” the Minister said.
Answering a question about whether his political career is dependent on the outcome of her contest for the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat, Madhu Bangarappa maintained that he would abide by the party’s decision. At one point, he added that he might lose an election, but would never fail as a leader.