Terming the brief lull in his political career after his defeat in the last Assembly elections in 2023 as Agnatwas, BJP leader and former Minister B. Sriramulu said that his selection as BJP candidate for Ballari segment for the Lok Sabha elections will be a new phase in his political career.
Addressing a media conference on Thursday, a day after his party announced his candidature, Mr. Sriramulu exuded the confidence of him winning the seat for the BJP.
“My selection as BJP candidate in Ballari is a freedom from the Agnatwas that I was in after my defeat in the 2023 Assembly elections. The former Lok Sabha member from Ballari Basavarajeshwari made me a member of the Ballari City Municipal Council when I was nothing. Since then, I have been working for the welfare of the people. I will win Ballari seat this time and join hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his mission to build a stronger India,” he said.
Exuding confidence in people voting for the BJP, Mr. Sriramulu said that the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is not a fight between individual candidates but the fight for a stronger India.
“Mr. Modi has set a target of winning over 400 seats for NDA [National Democratic Alliance] and 370 for the BJP. It is not an election of individual candidates. It is an election for a national goal of building a stronger India. I am confident that people of India will bless the BJP and Mr. Modi with overwhelming majority regardless of who will contest in a particular segment,” he said.
The former legislator T.H. Suresh Babu, senior party leaders S.J.V. Mahipal, Muraharagouda, Aruna Kamineni, K.A. Ramalingappa and others were present.
Ballari segment
Ballari Lok Sabha constituency was a stronghold of the Congress for 48 years between 1952 and 1999. With Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP national leader Sushma Swaraj locking horns in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections in Ballari, the constituency attracted national attention.
Ms. Gandhi won the elections by polling 4,14,650 votes (51.7%) defeating Ms. Swaraj who polled 3,58,550 votes (44.7%) of the total votes polled.
The BJP, however, opened its account in Ballari segment in 2004 elections when its candidate G. Karunakara Reddy won by polling 3,18,978 votes against his nearest rival K.C. Kondaiah of the Congress who polled 2,87,299 votes.
In 2009, BJP candidate J. Shantha, Mr. Sriramulu’s sister, won the seat by polling 4,02,213 votes against Congress candidate N.Y. Hanumanthappa who polled 3,99,970 votes.
In 2014, BJP candidate B. Sriramulu won the seat by polling 5,34,406 votes against his Congress rival N.Y. Hanumanthappa who polled 4,49,262 votes. In 2019, BJP candidate Y. Devendrappa won the seat by polling 6,16,388 votes against his nearest rival of Congress V.S. Ugrappa who polled 5,60,681 votes.
