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The Janata Dal (Secular) Friday released a second list of 49 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, including for the Hassan seat, over which there was a dispute within the Deve Gowda family.
The ticket for the seat has gone to a party worker and not to Bhavani Revanna, the daughter-in-law of H D Deve Gowda and wife of H D Revanna, who had laid claim to it to make her electoral debut. This had been opposed by brother-in-law H D Kumaraswamy.
On Friday, Kumaraswamy claimed that Hassan nominee, Swaroop Prakash, had been decided with Bhavani’s “complete consent”. “With the consent of all the members of our family, we have declared Prakash as the JD(S) candidate for Hassan,” he said.
Prakash is the son of a four-time Hassan JD(S) MLA, who died in 2018.
Kumaraswamy had opposed the candidature of Bhavani, the wife of his brother Revanna, arguing that it would strengthen accusations against the JD(S) of being a family party.
On Friday, Revanna stood by Kumaraswamy’s side as Prakash was announced as the candidate. Their father Deve Gowda, the former prime minister, knows Hassan inside out, Revanna said. “I have been saying for the last six months that our party leaders in Hassan, state president C M Ibrahim and Kumaraswamy will decide the Hassan ticket… The intent of everyone is to make Kumaraswamy the CM.”
While the ailing Deve Gowda has retired from active politics, those in the family with electoral stakes include Kumaraswamy, his wife Anitha and son Nikhil; and Revanna, and his sons Prajwal and Suraj.
Another notable face in the JD(S) second list is senior advocate Nagendra Naik, whose appointment to the High Court has been held back on four occasions by the Centre despite the approval of the Supreme Court Collegium. Naik will contest from Bhatkal in coastal Karnataka.
The four sitting MLAs from the Hassan region who have been refielded are former state JD(S) president H K Kumaraswamy (Sakleshpur); K S Lingesh (Belur), who was recently accused in an illegal land grab case; C N Balakrishna (Shravanabelagola), the president of the state Vokkaligara Sangha and a relative of the Gowda family; and Revanna (Holenarasipura).
With this, the JD(S) has announced tickets for 30 of the 37 seats it won in 2018. Three of its sitting MLAs recently left the party, with two joining the Congress and one the BJP.
Besides, the JD(S) has fielded two rebels each from the Congress and BJP — Y S V Datta (Kadur) and Manohar Tahsildar (Hanagal), who moved from the Congress; and former BJP leaders A Manju (Arkalgud) and Doddanagouda Naribol (Jewargi).
The first among the three major parties to announce candidates for the Assembly polls, the JD(S) declared its first list of 93 names in December last year. These were constituencies in which the party fancies its chances.
Of the 37 seats the JD(S) won in 2018, 27 were in south Karnataka region known as Mysuru Karnataka, where the party is a formidable force on account of the dominant presence there of the Vokkaliga community, to which the Deve Gowdas belong.
The six seats in Hassan district, considered the fiefdom of Revanna, had been left out in the first list.
Among the surprise candidates in the first list were the sons of Kumaraswamy, state party president C M Ibrahim, and senior leader G T Devegowda.
Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil, a film star and politician who lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Vokkaliga heartland seat of Mandya, is contesting from Ramanagara Assembly seat, considered a safe bet. Nikhil will replace his mother Anitha in the seat.
Kumaraswamy will contest from his Channapatna seat again.
Ibrahim’s son C M Fayaz is the JD(S) candidate from Humnabad seat in Bidar district of north Karnataka. The constituency was represented in 1994 and 2004 by former party state president Merajuddin Patel, who died in 2008.
Ibrahim is believed to have moved from the Congress to the JD(S) last year in the hope of reviving his faltering political career.
G T Devegowda and his son Harish Gowda are contesting from the old Mysuru constituencies of Chamundeshwari and Hunsur, respectively. Devegowda defeated Congress heavyweight Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari in 2018.
He was widely tipped to be headed to the Congress if his precondition of a ticket for his son was not met.
Four JD(S) leaders who won in 2018 — from Kolar, Gubbi, K R Pete and Hunsur seats — have since moved to other parties.
While Kumaraswamy talks of winning 123 seats, the JD(S) has a realistic chance in around 40, in regions where it is known to have a decent political base – the Vokkaliga belt in southern Karnataka and pockets of north Karnataka.
The party’s last formidable performance was in 1994 when it won 115 seats and Deve Gowda became CM.
Anything between 20 and 40 seats will leave the JD(S) in a position of kingmaker, like in 2004 and 2018. Deve Gowda’s cordial relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi may come in handy in such a situation.
