Bengaluru, Oct 24 : Former BJP MLC, C.P. Yogeshwara on Thursday filed his nomination as the Congress party candidate from the high-profile Channapatna Assembly constituency in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM and state party President D.K. Shivakumar.

Yogeshwara took out a massive procession as a show of strength in Channapatna town and submitted his nomination papers at the Channapatna Tehsildar's office.

The Channapatna seat was represented by Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Now, it has become a question of prestige for the NDA and former PM H.D. Deve Gowda's family to ensure the victory of their candidate.

Addressing the media, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated, 'I believe that the people will bless and support C.P. Yogeshwara. I am confident that the Congress candidate will win by a large margin."

He stated, "It doesn't matter who the JD(S) selects as their candidate in the Channapatna bye-election. C.P. Yogeshwara, who is with the Congress party, has previously been elected twice as an MLA. He faced injustice from the BJP and NDA, which is why he has returned to the Congress.

'The entire Congress has welcomed Yogeshwara, who has rejoined us, embracing the principles of the party. He is the official candidate of the Congress party. Regardless of who the JD(S) or BJP field in Channapatna, we are confident that our candidate will win. The development programmes and guarantee schemes of the Congress government demonstrate our commitment to fulfilling what we have promised."

Addressing the huge gathering in the nomination filing procession, Dy CM Shivakumar stated, "Kumaraswamy should release a list of his contributions to the development of Channapatna constituency as he was the CM for two terms earlier. He should present evidence of the work done for the constituency in front of the people.' 'Yogeshwara has joined the party at an auspicious time. By strengthening his hands, we should send a powerful message to the nation. I request that he be elected with the highest possible margin of votes,' he appealed.

'I will speak on other matters in the coming days. In the future, we have many episodes to watch. Winning the election is our only goal. In the Lok Sabha elections, the people of Channapatna gave D.K. Suresh over 80,000 votes. However, we couldn't secure victory because of lower votes from other regions,' Shivakumar underlined.

'Many workers from the BJP and JD(S) have trusted me and D.K. Suresh joined us. You have strengthened our hands, and under no circumstances will we abandon you or the Congress workers. We will always be with you in the future and will stand with Yogeshwara as well,' he assured.

'We are committed to giving Channapatna a new look. The development of Karnataka is our mission, and the Congress government is working with this goal in mind. I spoke to the Chief Minister, and about Rs 500 crore have been allocated for the development of Channapatna region,' he stated.

'The JD(S), which claims to be secular, has allied with the communal BJP. They have aligned themselves for political convenience. Kumaraswamy has even fielded his close relative as a candidate from the BJP,' he stated, referring to Bengaluru Rural MP, C.N. Manjunath who won against D.K. Suresh.

'We must repay our debt to Channapatna. Yogeshwara has joined the Congress with the intention of working for public service, alongside the Congress government. Development in Channapatna is possible if this 'Hand' remains in charge," Shivakumar maintained.

/IANS