K'taka Deputy CM Shivakumar's brother Suresh loses in big blow to ruling Congress

Bengaluru: DK Suresh, brother of Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief D K Shivakumar, was defeated in the Bangalore Rural constituency by BJP’s CN Manjunath on Tuesday, in a big blow to the ruling party in Karnataka. The 58-year-old three-time MP, who was the only Congress candidate to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka, lost by 2,69,647 votes, in what is seen as a setback to Shivakumar.

Manjunath polled 10,79,002 votes and Suresh 8,09,355.

Manjunath, an eminent cardiologist and former Director of government-run Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, is the son-in-law of former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda and brother-in-law of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

The JD(S) joined the NDA last year and contested the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the BJP. The BJP fought in 25 constituencies and the JD(S) in three in Karnataka, which has a total of 28 segments.

This is Manjunath’s maiden election. He is also the brother of a JD(S) MLA from Shravanabelagola in Hassan district, CN Balakrishna.

The Rajarajeshwari Nagar BJP MLA Munirathna also spread the word across the constituency during campaigning that Dr Manjunath will become a cabinet minister if he is elected.

He even claimed that Manjunath would be made the Union Health Minister given his experience as an administrator of the prestigious Jayadeva Hospital.

Manjunath also found many namesakes as competitors in this election.

The nearest one was Manjunatha CN who is a native of Channarayapatna in Hassan district, whose father’s name is Nanjundappa. Dr Manjunath’s father’s name is Nanjappa. The passport photographs of both these candidates show them in a black blazer and tie.

Other namesakes were Manjunath K from Papareddypalya, N Manjunatha from Indiranagar slum in Rajajinagar and Manjunath C from Shakti Garden in Mudalapalya in the city.

“These are some age-old tactics but people are wise, educated and thoughtful. They know that I am contesting on the lotus symbol from the national party BJP as an NDA candidate,” Dr Manjunath had said during campaigning.