Varuna may prove to be an exciting battle if the Congress fields Siddaramaiah’s son Yatheendra and the BJP fields Yeddyurappa’s son Vijayendra from this constituency in upcoming Assembly elections.

Varuna, in the outskirts of palace city Mysore, is one of the best known Assembly seats in Karnataka, courtesy its incumbent MLA and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Varuna came into existence as an Assembly seat only in 2008 after the delimitation of constituencies. Siddaramaiah, who contested seven elections from Chamundeshwari between 1983 and 2008, shifted to neighbouring Varuna for strategic reasons. He has now decided to field son Yatheendra from there, shifting his own base to Chamundeshwari again.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee on Friday March 30 filed a complaint with the Election Commissioner of India alleging that BJP national president Amit Shah had violated the model code of conduct during his visit to the residence of slain BJP worker Raju in Mysuru.

A delegation of KPCC leaders on Friday met the chief electoral officer of Karnataka Sanjeev Kumar and submitted him a copy of the complaint addressed to the EC.

Earlier in the day, Amit Shah along with other BJP leaders had visited Raju’s family in Mysuru and paid condolence. Amit Shah reportedly handed over a cheque of Rs 5 lac to the family, to which the Congress objected. The complaint also names BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, union minister Ananth Kumar and Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, who had accompanied Amit Shah to Raju’s residence.

“At the time of his (Amit Shah’s) visit, he and the aforementioned leaders handed over a cheque of Rs 5,00,000 to the deceased’s family which is a gross violation of the model code of conduct I(4) read with Section 171B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860,” the complaint states.

The Congress pointed out that the timing of Amit Shah’s gesture proved that it was meant to ‘woo the voters’. “Amit Shah has visited the state and particularly Mysuru many times before but had never made an effort to visit the family. Thus it is safe to presume in the light of the ensuing elections, that the money was paid with an intent to woo the voters,” the complaint stated.

The Congress also attached a newspaper advertisement of Amit Shah’s visit to Raju’s house, stating that ‘it clearly shows that their intention was to gain sympathy and polarise votes’.

Stating that Amit Shah’s act amounted to ‘bribery’, the KPCC urged the Election Commission to take action against the BJP leaders.

On March 28, the day the Assembly election dates were announced, the Congress had filed a complaint with the EC against Amit Shah for calling chief minister Siddaramaiah ‘Ahindu’ instead of pro-Ahinda.

Stepping into the home turf of Chief Minister Sidddaramaiah, BJP President Amit Shah today told him that his “time” has come to an end and he would be mistaken if he thought that saffron ideology could be stalled by unleashing violence against BJP and RSS workers.

New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah addressing party workers during ‘Jan Raksha Yatra’ to protest the alleged murders of party workers in Kerala, in New Delhi on Sunday. PTI Photo by Vijay Verma(PTI10_8_2017_000081B)

Shah began his fourth round of visit to the poll-bound Karnataka with a tour of old Mysuru areas, asserting that Siddaramaiah and JDS would receive “biggest shock of their lives” from the region in the May 12 assembly polls.

“It is said that the BJP is a bit weak here (Old Mysuru region), but after seeing the work of the party workers, I expect Siddaramaiahji and the JD(S) to get the biggest shock of their lives from this (Old) Mysuru region,” he told a party convention here.

Shah is presently covering the districts of Mysuru, Chamarajanagara, Mandya and Ramanagara, where BJP had not won even a single seat in the previous election.

The principal challenger to the ruling Congress is JDS in these districts.

Referring to his gaffe at Davanagere earlier this week, Shah said though he had committed a mistake in his speech while referring to Siddaramaiah’s corruption, people of the state would not do the same because they knew Siddaramaiah’s rule well.

“Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi were very happy over my gaffe while speaking about Siddaramaiah’s corruption. I had made a mistake, but the people of Karnataka will not make it, because they have understood Siddaramaiah’s government very well,” he said.

In a slip of the tongue at a press conference at Davangere while attacking the Siddaramaiah dispensation as the “most corrupt” one, Shah had said the Yeddyurappa government would get the number one award in corruption.

He had, however, corrected himself after being prompted by BJP MP Prahlad Joshi, who was seated next to him.

Shah also accused Siddaramaiah of playing with Karnataka’s pride by not celebrating the “jayanti” of noted Kannada poet Kuvempu or renowned engineer Sir M Vishveswaraiah.

“Siddaramaiah only remembers to celebrate the jayanti of Tipu Sultan (the 18th-century ruler of Mysore) to get votes,” he said.

Shah also met the Wadiyar royal family of Mysuru today at their private palace, triggering peculations about their supporting or joining the BJP.

According to sources, during the closed door meeting with the scion of royal family or the present titular Maharaja-Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and Rajamata Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, Shah reportedly discussed various issues, including politics.

Amid speculations in the media,Yaduveer,the 27th “King” of the Wadiyar dynasty,recently ruled out his political entry.

“I have told several times that I’m not interested in politics. There is no chance at all about me joining any party. I’m not interested in politics. Through social work we will continue our relationship with the public,” he said.

Shah also said that his party, if voted to power, would make efforts to hunt down the killers of RSS and BJP workers in Karnataka, and hand out severest of punishment to them.

“I would like to tell the people of the state that Siddaramaiah’s time has come to an end. Soon after BJP forms the next government under Yeddyurappa’s leadership, it will make all efforts to hunt down killers (of RSS and BJP workers) from any corner of the world,” he said.

Shah was speaking to reporters after meeting the family of BJP worker Raju, who was hacked to death in March 2016.

“They will be sent to jail and handed out stringent punishment,” he added.

Shah said Siddaramaiah was mistaken if he and his government thought they could stall saffron ideology from spreading by unleashing violence against BJP and RSS workers.

“In politics, there is no room for violence. If Siddaramaiah and his government think they can stall our ideology from spreading, then he is mistaken,” he said.

Targetting the Karnataka chief minister, Shah in a tweet said there are multiple fronts on which CM Siddaramaiah has failed his own constituency. Mandya-Mysuru region has one of the highest farmer suicide rates in the state.

Last year, there were more than 265 infant deaths in just 7 months in Mysuru district, he said.

“Mysuru is just 140 Km away from the state capital, yet it has failed to attract any major investments. In 5 years, CM did nothing to fulfill his promise to widen Mysuru-Bengaluru roadway. It was PM Modi who fulfilled this long standing demand with a new 8-lane road,” Shah tweeted.

Continuing BJP’s bid to reach out to the prominent Lingayat community, Shah began his fourth leg of Karnataka visit by meeting it’s prominent pontiff at Suttur Mutt here.

“Took blessings of Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji of Sri Suttur Math in Mysuru,” he tweeted after his meeting with the seer.

The BJP president had begun his third leg of tour on March 26 by seeking blessings of 111-year old Sri Shivakumara Swami of Siddhaganga Mutt in Tumakuru, a revered seer of the Lingayat community.

The meeting with the Lingayat seers is being seen as an attempt to reach out to the Lingayats/Veeshaivas, who are numerically and politically powerful in the state and form a major voter base for the BJP.

The visit assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of the Siddaramaiah government’s move to recommend to the Centre to accord a religious minority tag to Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats in an attempt to wean away a section of them from the BJP.

BJP National President Amit Shah on Friday was ‘heckled’ by angry protesters who raised slogans against anti-Dalit remarks by Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde a few months ago.

Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the old Mysuru region in the poll-bound Karnataka, sought to pacify the Dalit leaders by distancing from Hegde’s controversial remarks and for which the latter had apologized too.

“Neither the BJP nor me has anything to do with Hegde’s statements. We don’t endorse such remarks,” Shah told the Dalit leaders at a meeting here where he sought their support for the party’s victory in the May 12 assembly poll.

Accusing the media of “twisting” his speech at Ballari in the state’s northwest district in December, Hegde had then tweeted that he would apologise if his remarks had hurt the feelings of the people.

Hegde is also accused of comparing Dalits with “barking dogs” on an earlier occasion at Sirsi, his constituency in the state’s Uttara Kannada district.

Supporting the protest by the Dalits, the Congress state unit urged Shah to answer their legitimate questions on Hegde “insulting” the community.

“Why haven’t you taken any action against your party man for such derogatory comments? This clearly shows that BJP endorses his hate-mongering,” said the party in a tweet.

Ruling party’s spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala also tweeted that the anti-Dalit mindset of the BJP was exposed again.

“Amit Shah acts as a political chameleon and follows worst type of opportunism by publicly disowning Union Minister Anant Hegde. Will he dare to sack him? Stop the doublespeak and act,” tweeted Surjewala.