Channapatna Bypoll: Will Turncoat CP Yogeshwar's Switch To Congress Break His Losing Streak?

The by-polls for Karnataka's Channapatna constituency, one of the three seats up for grabs, is expected to be a high-stakes contest. Former MLC and BJP leader CP Yogeshwar has joined Congress, with the party almost certain to field him as their candidate. Let us look at his political career:

CP Yogeshwar's political career has been full of ups and downs, having contested seven elections and won four, each under a different party symbol. He first gained public recognition as the lead actor in the movie Sainika before venturing into electoral politics in 1999. Running as an independent candidate, Yogeshwar defeated Congress candidate Kanth Saadat Ali Khan by a margin of 2,282 votes.

Following this victory, Yogeshwar joined the Congress and won the 2004 election by defeating JD(S) candidate Ashwath M.C. with a margin of 16,169 votes. In the 2008 Assembly election, he repeated his success by defeating the JD(S) candidate by 4,930 votes.

However, in 2009, Yogeshwar contested as a BJP candidate for the first time but lost to Ashwath M.C. by 2,282 votes. His fortunes reversed in 2011 when, running again for the BJP, he secured a landslide victory, defeating JD(S) candidate Nagaraju by 17,803 votes.

In 2013, Yogeshwar switched to the Samajwadi Party and managed to defeat JD(S) candidate Anita Kumaraswamy by a margin of 6,464 votes. However, in 2018, he faced a major setback, losing to HD Kumaraswamy by 21,000 votes. In the most recent 2023 Assembly election, Yogeshwar was again defeated by Kumaraswamy, this time by a margin of over 15,000 votes.

With his likely entry into the Congress, the Channapatna by-election is set to be an intense political battle.