‘Fight between parties, not family members’

Elder son Kumar Bangarappa, 45, a two time Congress MLA and a minister in the S.M. Krishna government, is fighting his younger brother and their father’s favourite Madhu Bangarappa, 42, who is contesting on a ticket of the Samajwadi Party, father Bangarappa’s current political sanctuary.

Both Bangarappa kids drew large crowds at their biggest election rally on Monday as the election heat in this keenly watched district rose. While the younger son naturally had his father—who heli hopped into Soraba for the first campaign—by his side, the elder was leaning on former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna.

At the two separate campaigns—held within three hours and 200 metres of each other—in the tiny town of Anahatti in Soraba taluk, neither brother nor their father figures attacked each other.

It was an indication that much water has flowed under the family bridge since the senior Bangarappa in 2004, upset with his elder son’s refusal to move to the BJP, decided to groom his political-greenhorn younger son as the inheritor of a sizable popular vote base.

This time, father Bangarappa has had little time to canvass for his younger son or for himself—he is up against BJP’s chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa in the neighboring Shikharipura constituency. He has been canvassing for SP candidates in some carefully chosen constituencies around Shimoga.

“Three days is enough for us to campaign. The people are with us,” he says when asked about his delayed appearance for campaigning for himself and his younger son. A fourth day of campaigning was held on Tuesday when SP leaders Amar Singh and Jaya Prada were flown into Shikharipura.

About his younger son, Bangarappa said, “He is not raw anymore, he is not dependent on me, he can now stand on his own...I don’t think he lost last time. To me it was a victory,” he says.

“The people here have given me a place equal to my father. I will follow his footsteps, always,” says the faithful son Madhu Bangarappa who has multiple interests, including film production. He admits he is now on talking terms with his closest political rival but adds the poll battle “is not between two family members but between two parties”. He also says the Congress has done little for the development of Soraba in the last decade.

Elder brother Kumar Bangarappa on the other hand is quietly confident. He has visited 440 villages in the region seeking votes. At his political rally in Anahatti, he outlined his plans to raise the aspirations of his traditional toddy tapping community and Soraba.