Former minister and one of the influential politicians of Kodagu, B A Jeevijaya quit the JD(S) and joined the Congress, on Wednesday.
In a way, it has been a ‘Ghar Wapsi’ for Jeevijaya as he had earlier migrated to the JD(S) from the Congress, where he started out from.
Jeevijaya was welcomed to the Congress party at the KPCC office in Bengaluru, by Congress state president D K Shivakumar and Opposition Leader in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah.
MLC Veena Achaiah, Kodagu district Congress committee president K K Manjunath, leader Chandramouli and A S Ponnanna were present on the occasion.
Being an influential leader in Somwarpet, Shanivarasanthe and Kodlipet regions, Jeevijaya has his own fan following. Jeevijaya rejoining the Congress has added strength to the party in Kodagu, which has been a bastion of the BJP for many years.
According to sources, the Congress High Command had plans to bring Jeevijaya back to Congress and offer him a ticket for the 2018 Assembly elections. However, they did not materialise at the last minute. Jeevijaya, who contested from JD(S), lost the elections.
A rift in JD(S)
During the Lok Sabha elections, the then state president of JD(S) A H Vishwanath had appointed K M B Ganesh as Kodagu district unit president of JD(S).
Disappointed by the change, Jeevijaya had said that he would quit the party. Assurances by JD(S) Supremo H D Devegowda made him stay in the party. However, Jeevijaya made up his mind to rejoin the Congress.
During the first week of November, MLC Veena Achaiah and leader K M Lokesh had dropped in at the residence of Jeevijaya and held a discussion, which created ripples in the political arena of Kodagu.
Defeated Gundu Rao
B A Jeevijaya, who was initially with the Congress, joined the Janata party later. Contesting from Somwarpet constituency, he had defeated Gundu Rao, thereby drawing the attention of the people.
A powerful leader from the Vokkaliga community, Jeevijaya, later joined Congress and worked as forest minister. Later, in 2008, he contested for Assembly elections from Congress and lost against Appachu Ranjan. He also lost in the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, contesting from JD(S).
After the demarcation of Assembly constituencies, Somwarpet became a part of Madikeri constituency. Jeevijaya lost the Assembly elections in 2013 and 2018 from JD(S). Post-2018, he stayed away from active politics and now, by rejoining Congress, he is back in active politics.
Eying on elections
It is said that Jeevijaya returning to the Congress at a time of Gram Panchayat elections, will have an impact on the upcoming elections, as Jeevijaya is influential in rural areas.
According to Congress leaders, he has a lot of supporters in Kushalnagar, Hebbale, Thorenuru, Aluru-Siddapura, Kodlipet and Shanivarsanthe regions.
New innings
It is predicted that Jeevijaya might get a ticket from Congress party to contest in the next Assembly elections from Madikeri constituency.
Interestingly, other Congress leaders including High Court advocate Chandamouli, District Congress Committee president K K Manjunath and Napanda Muttappa are aspiring for a Congress ticket in the next Assembly elections, from Madikeri.