Battle royale in Mysore: Will BJP's Krishnadatta Wadiyar hold fort or Congress spring a surprise?

Lok Sabha elections 2024: The Mysore Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, which has 8 Assembly segments, will go to polls in the second phase of the ongoing polls on April 26. The Mysore Lok Sabha constituency comprises of Madikeri, Virajpet, Periyapatna, Hunasuru, Chamundeshwari, Krishnaraja, Chamaraja, and Narasimharaja assembly segments. 

Mysore will witness a two-way battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Congress. While the BJP has gone the royal route in this constituency steeped in historic splendour, the Congress has went the aam aadmi way. The BJP has fielded Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the erstwhile Mysore Royal family, whereas the Congress has fielded an engineer-turned-politician M Lakshman from the constituency. 

Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar vs M Lakshman

Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar is the adopted son of Pramodadevi Wadiyar, whose late husband Srikantadataa Narasimharaja Wadiyar also represented the Mysore Lok Sabha seat four times in the 1980s and 90s. Wadiyar, who has garnered solid support from the BJP as well as the JD(S), has also engaged with local BJP leaders, including sitting MP Pratap Simha and estranged party leader AH Vishwanath, who advocated for his election.

M Lakshman, on the other hand, is an engineer-turned politician with much lower visibility. Lakshman aims to secure the seat as Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah hails from the region. The engineer-turned-politician claims to have visibility beyond Mysore region as he served as the general secretary (in-charge) of Kodagu district under the Karnataka Congress unit.  

Much like his boss Siddaramaiah, his strategy will be to focus on the BJP's misrule instead of directly attacking Yaduveer. Siddaramaiah has instructed party leaders and cadre to not use offensive or defamatory language against Yaduveer as it may upset the voters. 

Mysore-- BJP bastion since 2014 

Since 2014, Mysore has been a BJP bastion with Pratap Simha presenting the constituency twice. This time, however, the saffron party dropped Simha and gave the ticket to Krishnadatta Wadiyar due to his royal legacy and strong reputation in the region. 

Before 2014, Mysore has largely been a Congress bastion. For 39 years from 1957-96, the seat was with the grand old party. In the 1998 general elections, BJP won from Mysore for the first time when CH Vijayashankar emerged victorious.

Later in 1999, the seat went to Srikantadataa Narasimharaja Wadiyar, Yaduveer's late adoptive father who fought on a Congress ticket. BJP's CH Vijayashankar won back the seat again in 2004 but lost it to AH Vishwanath of the Congress. 

Pratap Simha dropped from Mysore

Pratap Simha was dropped due to internal party politics and the 2023 Parliament security breach. Simha failed to garner support from Karnataka BJP leaders and also had a strained relationship with BS Yediyurappa, as per media reports.

In 2023, Simha was at the centre of a hornet's nest after two intruders jumped into the chambers of Lok Sabha from the visitors' gallery. The intruders, who raised slogans and released yellow smoke through cannisters, were issued authorisation passes by Simha.