Constituency Watch | Sholay land still echoes with loyalty for Gowdas, but terrain not that easy for family debutant

Actor-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the son of Kumaraswamy and grandson of Deve Gowda, is contesting from Ramanagara, against Iqbal Hussain of the Congress and Gowtham Gowda of the BJP respectively.

While over 50% of the seat’s voters are Vokkaligas – the support base of the Deve Gowdas – 35% are OBCs, and 26% Muslims.

The last election Nikhil, 33, contested was the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, when he lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh (an Independent now with the BJP) from Mandya.

Ramanagara is as “safe” a seat as it gets for Nikhil, having been a JD(S) bastion for over two decades, apart from the old constituency of his father and grandfather. Its incumbent MLA is Nikhil’s mother Anitha Kumaraswamy, who won a bypoll from here in 2018.

However, voters believe the road to victory is not easy for Nikhil – who is also the JD(S) Youth Wing president — and that both the Congress’s Hussain and the BJP’s Gowtham Gowda would eat into at least some of the JD(S)’s minority and Vokkaliga votes, respectively.

Perhaps aware of this, Nikhil accuses the BJP and Congress of “working together”, “just as they did in 2019”, to ensure his defeat. “I am not sure who is the A team and who is the B team (between the two). But I know they are working together to defeat me in Ramanagara,” he tells The Indian Express.

That doesn’t affect his confidence, Nikhil stresses, adding that he doesn’t see even the 2019 Mandya loss as a “defeat” as such. “JD(S) leader C S Puttaraju, when he had won from there, had polled around 5.25 lakh votes. Even when I lost, I got around 5.75 lakh.”

What all three candidates are offering voters are transformation of Ramanagara into “another Bengaluru”, apart from robust transport systems to cut travel time to the capital city.

While calling his “top focus” education and health, Nikhil is most excited about his promise of extending the Bengaluru Metro to Ramanagara (currently, a sub-urban rail network connects the two cities). “Travellers between Bengaluru and Ramanagara spend exorbitant amounts as the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway is expensive (due to tolls). So I am proposing that the Bengaluru Metro be brought till Ramanagara. I also want to create as many employment opportunities as possible in Ramanagara, so that youngsters don’t have to travel to Bengaluru (for work),” he says.

Congress competitor Hussain, 61, is targeting Nikhil’s youth and “inexperience”. “Unlike films, it is difficult to understand the pulse of the people in politics,” Hussain takes a swipe. “The JD(S) boasts of having developed Ramanagara as a district, but most of Ramanagara still does not fall under the city municipal corporation. Ramanagara still does not have a consistent water supply and reels under poor infrastructure.”

Many voters too talk of the “generation gap” between Nikhil and voters, as a limitation for him to understand the problems of senior citizens.

Hussain had contested from the seat in 2018 as well, losing to Kumaraswamy by over 22,000 votes. He is expected to win the town part this time, where a big majority of the Muslim population is settled, but the rural areas might stick with the JD(S).

The BJP’s Gowtham Gowda is highlighting “poor infrastructure” in the area, apart from playing the Hindu card. The BJP manifesto talks of building a Ram temple as part of developing tourism and heritage of Ramanagara.

Most voters chide this religious angle. Anil Kumar, a farmer from Achalu village in Ramanagara, says: “The BJP’s Hindu politics will not work with the people of Ramanagara. All we want from the ruling government is to reduce the price of basic commodities.”

Kumar also talks about how Hussain has been among the people in the constituency in times of need, including the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and when there were floods in the area.

The consensus, however, is that what might help Hussain more is the BJP candidate taking away a sizeable chunk of Vokkaliga votes.

In the end though, the loyalty towards Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy may outweigh other factors.

Shivakumar Gowda, a farmer from K P Doddi village in Ramanagara, says: “I think a lot of senior citizens may not be able to connect with a youngster like Nikhil. The problems of senior citizens like pension schemes, health insurance policies need to be addressed. However, many in rural Ramanagara still owe it to the Gowda family for making this a district and boosting the silk trade in the region. Since my grandfather’s days, we have been supporters of Deve Gowda.”

Contrary to what Shivakumar says, Arfath Pasha, a 25-year old resident of Ramanagara town, sees Nikhil youth as an advantage, but thinks other reasons give Hussain an edge. “Nikhil has managed to connect well with youngsters. He organises frequent sporting activities in Ramanagara. However, the JD(S) has neglected to address the infrastructure woes in minority-dominated areas like Mehboob Nagar. Local party leaders did not do enough when floods hit Ramanagara last year.”

The JD(S) is also facing charges from opponents of being a “family party”, given all the tickets to the Deve Gowdas. This was one reason the party cited to deny a ticket to Deve Gowda’s son H D Revanna’s wife Bhavani Revanna, triggering tension with the family.

Nikhil, clearly a gainer from belonging to the Kumarswamy side of the family, doesn’t believe this is a factor. “Politics is a platform for anybody who wants to work for people. That is why many people want to contest for MLA/MP elections. At the end of the day, the party took a call regarding Hassan.”

With Deve Gowda now 90, and Kumaraswamy suffering a stint in hospital after intense campaigning, Nikhil is looking at shouldering the burden of his campaign largely alone. He says both his father and grandfather are an “inspiration” for putting the energy they do in the field.

On his future, Nikhil says, “I have got to build the party, and when my father gets the opportunity to become CM again, we hope to implement good education, health, employment, housing and farming programmes.”

What about films? “As of now, I don’t want to comment on that,” says the 33-year-old.