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Is Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s second son Dr.Yatheendra joining politics following the death of his elder brother Rakesh ?
Close friends and associates of the chief minister held a secret meeting last week, sparking speculation that it was to discuss the issue of succession. Some of Siddaramaiah's supporters from his native place Mysore are openly claiming it is a done deal, and that Yatheendra will take the plunge into politics before the Assembly elections due in early 2018.
Yatheendra, a highly talented pathologist, runs a diagnostic clinic in middle class Basaveshwaranagar extension of Bengaluru. Unlike Rakesh, he is a recluse and is hardly seen and heard in public. Even on the day of his father’s swearing-in ceremony three years ago, Yatheendra was busy at his clinic attending his patients till late in the evening. He doesn't interact much, except with close friends and family members; and even an informal interaction with the media is a strict no for him.
Even while his father is the CM, he has been spotted travelling in a government bus along with his mother Parvathi. A few months ago, they stood in a common queue with other devotees at the famous Chamundeshwari temple in Mysore, before local police identified them and forced them to enter through a VIP gate.
Siddaramaiah has always been proud of his son’s academic achievements and his simplicity. Sources in the family say the chief minister had never thought he would one day have to ask him to join politics, as the elder son was officially heir-apparent. Rakesh's death in July of a liver ailment forced Siddaramaiah to change his mind.
A state-level topper in school board exams, Yatheendra was in news for wrong reasons only once. A diagnostic firm in which he is a partner had bagged a contract to set up a medical lab at the state-run Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. When it became a big issue, Siddaramaiah ordered the officials concerned to cancel the deal. Yatheendra then defended it - that was the only occasion he ever spoke to the media - saying a qualified doctor like him should not be prevented from serving the poor at a government hospital just because he is the chief minister’s son.
An MLA close to Siddaramaiah said, "Initially CM was not ready. He told us there was no need for Yatheendra to enter politics, and that anyway he was going to retire in 2018. But we persuaded him and he has now agreed to spare his only surviving child. We don’t know when he will join politics. It could be before the 2018 elections or even after that.”
When contacted, Siddaramaiah's aides told News18 that he was busy and would not like to comment on rumours.
Siddaramaiah had been a vocal critic of dynastic politics till Rakesh followed him a few years ago. In fact, he had quit the JDS in 2005 calling it a Gowda family party before joining the Congress. Before this happened he was one of the fiercest critics of the Gandhi family’s dynastic politics. Life, it seems, has come full circle for him.
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