As Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah touched down earlier this week in north Karnataka to file his nomination for the Badami seat, the BJP had his challenger standing by: B Sriramalu, currently its MP in Bellary.
It was an indication that B Sriramulu, commonly described as a key aide to Janardhan Reddy, the scam-hit mining baron from Bellary, is emerging as a political force in his own right.
But by the next election in 2013, Mr Reddy - engulfed in charges of corruption - had been jettisoned. Mr Sriramulu, while not directly implicated in the cases, left with him, jointly floating a political party that tasted limited success in and around Bellary district. Mr Sriramulu returned to the BJP in 2014, winning the Bellary Lok Sabha seat and setting himself up for a pivotal role in next month's assembly elections.
B Sriramulu is commonly described as a key aide to Janardhan Reddy, the scam-hit mining baron from Bellary
In more anecdotal evidence of Mr Sriramulu's rising stock, his Wikipedia page describes him as "the Deputy Chief Ministernal(sic) Candidate from Karnataka for 2018", a position which the BJP is yet to formally announce. (Mr Sriramulu claims he has no such ambitions.)
BJP's B Sriramulu is contesting against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the Badami seat
But Mr Reddy embarrassed the party when he appeared last week on stage with Mr Yeddyurappa and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, to endorse Mr Sriramulu's nomination to a constituency in Chitradurga district. (Mr Sriramulu is contesting from two seats.)
As for Mr Reddy appearing on stage, he said "We will obviously have to accept his (Janardhan Reddy's) seniority, right? He is an ex- minister" (in the former BJP government in Karnataka).
B Sriramulu's palatial home is set on 1.5 acres of land in Bellary, Karnataka
B Sriramulu's sprawling dining room with a row of red velvet-clad chairs
"It was my father's, his parents'. This is an ancestral asset", he said, referring to the luxurious surroundings. "None of it is from mining money". Mr Srimamulu's father worked for the Indian Railways.
B Sriramulu's luxurious home shares a boundary wall with Janardhan Reddy's sprawling estate
A printed BJP handbill pinned to the village wall with Mr Sriramulu's campaign schedule for the day listed 25 village visits, and featured a host of photographs of national and state leaders, including of Mr Reddy.
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