The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday announced that it had appointed former Union Minister Ananth Kumar’s widow Tejaswini its vice president in Karnataka. The move is being seen as an attempt to placate her supporters after she was denied a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from the Bangalore South constituency, which was represented by her husband.
On March 26, the BJP declared lawyer and Yuva Morcha activist Tejasvi Surya its candidate for the seat. Supporters of Tejaswini Ananth Kumar had then staged protests outside her home against the BJP’s decision. The protestors had demanded that she get the seat.
Surya, who is the nephew of BJP lawmaker Ravi Subramanya, is said to be the party’s youngest candidate. He is known for his polarising speeches. Surya will be up against Congress veteran BK Hariprasad.
BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa made the announcement. He is believed to have initially recommended her name for the Lok Sabha poll seat. “Wishing her all the very best,” Yeddyurappa tweeted.
Tejaswini Ananth Kumar had last week said that the party’s decision was shocking. But she had added: “I stand with the party’s decision. Let’s not start asking questions. If we have to contribute to the country then we have to work for Modiji.”
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