BJP denies ticket to Ananth Kumar's wife in Bangalore South; fields youth leader

Bengaluru: In a surprise move, the BJP Tuesday fielded party's youth wing leader Tejaswi Surya from its bastion of Bangalore South from where the widow of union minister Ananth Kumar, a six-time MP from this prestigious Lok Sabha constituency, was denied the ticket.

Ending the suspense with just hours left for the deadline for filing of nominations for the first phase of polls in Karnataka, the BJP central leadership announced past midnight last night the name of 28-year-old Surya, a lawyer and a member of the party's national social media campaign team. Surya is the general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha(BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP.

It was widely expected that the BJP would field Tejaswini given her active participation in scripting her husband's victories from the seat six times, but Surya emerged as the dark horse. Surya filed his nomination papers Tuesday. The Karnataka BJP core committee had proposed only Tejaswini's name, according to Padmanabhanagar MLA and former deputy chief minister R Ashok. Tejaswini was also confident about fighting the poll on BJP ticket and had been preparing for it and had started a door-to-door campaign. She said the party decision came as a shock to her and all of her supporters but maintained that it is very important to show that the BJP was a party with a difference.

"OMG OMG!!! I can't believe this. PM of world's largest democracy & President of largest political party have reposed faith in a 28 yr old guy to represent them in a constituency as prestigious as B'lore South. This can happen only in my BJP," Surya tweeted, reacting to the announcement.

"Tejaswini ji has given her blessings". The reason behind projecting Surya, said BJP sources, was to build a second line of young and talented leaders who can lead the party.

Counted for his oratorical skills, Surya was involved in strengthening the party base in the city as well as in coastal Karnataka, especially around Mangaluru and Udupi, the BJP strongholds.