Dynasts, irrespective of party affiliation, continue to thrive in Karnataka politics as an analysis of the background of the newly elected MLAs shows that one-fifth are members of families at least one of whose members has held a political position or public office. At least 61 candidates of the BJP, the Congress, and the Janata Dal (Secular) are from political families, including three father-son and two father-daughter duos and five sets of brothers, contested the elections. Of them, 43 were elected to the 224-member Assembly. Two Independents also hail from political families. There were quite a few dynasts who lost the election, including former CM H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil of the Janata Dal (Secular), who lost from Ramanagara; Congress leader Margaret Alva’s son Nivedith Alva who lost from Karwar in Uttara Kannada district; Leader of Opposition of outgoing Legislative Council B K Hariprasad’s nephew Rakshith Shivaram, who lost on a Congress ticket from Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada district; BJP MP Sanganna Karadi’s daughter-in-law Manjula Amaresh who lost from Koppal in Kalaburagi district; and former minister Anand Singh’s son Siddharth Singh in Vijayanagara in Ballari district. Of the father-son MLA duos, two are Shamunuru Shivashankarappa and his son S S Mallikarjun of the Congress and G T Devegowda and Harish Gowda of the JD(S). While Shivashankarappa and Mallikarjun won from Davanagere North and Davanagere South constituencies, Devegowda and Harish won from Chamundeshewari and Hunsur constituencies in Mysuru district. Among the father-daughter pairs are former Union Minister K H Muniyappa and Roopakala M of the Congress who won from Devanahalli (Bengaluru Rural) and Kolar Gold Field constituencies. All three Jarkiholi brothers were re-elected again from three neighbouring constituencies at the centre of Belagavi district. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president Satish Jarkiholi won from Yemkanmardi for the fourth time. His brothers Ramesh and Balachandra contested on BJP tickets. While Ramesh won from the constituency of Gokak for the seventh time, Balachandra bagged Arabhavi for a sixth term. Around Bellary, it was mostly bad news for the Reddy brothers, influential mining barons, as only one of them won. While former BJP minister Gali Janardhana Reddy won from Gangawati in Koppal district, the sole victory for his Karnataka Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP), both his brothers and former MLAs Somashekara and Karunakara lost the elections. Somasekhara lost the contest from the Bellary City constituency to the Congress’s Nara Bharath Reddy. Another contestant in the fray was Janardhana’s wife Aruna Lakshmi. Outgoing Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is the son of former CM S R Bommai, won from the Shiggaon constituency while All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank won from Chittapur in Kalaburagi district. It was a mixed bag for the two sons of former CM Dharam Singh. While Ajay Singh won from Jewargi in Kalaburagi district, Vijay Singh lost from Basavakalyan in Bidar district. Both contested on Congress tickets. Brothers Madhu and Kumar Bangarappa, sons of former CM S Bangarappa, went up against each other in the constituency of Soraba in Shivamogga district. Kumar, the incumbent MLA from the BJP, lost to Madhu who contested on a Congress ticket. Nayana Jhawar, the daughter of former minister C Motamma, was one of the first-time winners. An alumna of the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, the 43-year-old won by a slender margin of 722 votes from the constituency of Mudigere on a Congress ticket. She benefited from B S Yediyurappa loyalist M P Kumaraswamy’s decision to leave the BJP and contest the election on a JD(S) ticket. Kumaraswamy dented the BJP’s prospects in the seat. Here is a list, not exhaustive, of Congress and BJP MLAs from political families: Congress Dinesh Gundu Rao, the son of former CM R Gundu Rao, won in Gandhi Nagar (Bengaluru Urban) Ganesh Hukkeri, the son of former MP Prakash Hukkeri, won in Chikkodi Sadalga (Belagavi) Mahantesh Koujalagi, the son of former minister Shivanand Koujalagi, won in Bailhongal (Belagavi) Vijayanad S Kashappanavar, the son of former minister S R Kashappanavar, won in Hungund (Bagalkot) Kaneez Fatima, the wife of former minister Qamar-ul-Islam, won in Gulbarga Uttar Eshwar Khandre, the son of former minister Bheemanna Khandre, won in Bhalki (Bidar) Krishna Byregowda, the son of former minister C Byre Gowda, won from Byatarayanapura (Bengaluru Urban) Sharath Bachegowda, the son of BJP MP B N Bache Gowda, won in Hosakote (Bengaluru Rural) U T Khader, the son of former MLA U T Fareed, won in Mangalore A S Ponnana, the son of former MLC A K Subbaiah, won in Virajpet (Kodagu) Darshan Dhruvanarayana, the son of former MP R Dhruvanarayan, won in Nanjangud (Mysuru) H M Ganesh Prasad, the son of former minister H S Mahadeva Prasad, won in Gundlupet (Chamarajanagar) M B Patil, the son of former legislator B M Patil, won in Babaleshwar (Bijapur) H K Patil, the son of former minister K H Patil, won in Gadag Anil Kumar C, the son of former MLA Chikkamadu S, won in H D Kote (Mysuru) Tanveer Sait, the son of former minister Azeez Sait, won in Narasimharaja (Mysuru) Nayana Jhawar, daughter of former minister Motamma, won in Mudigere (Chikkamagaluru) BJP B Y Vijayendra, the son of BJP Parliamentary Board member and former CM B S Yediyurappa, won in Shikaripura (Shivamogga) Shashikala Jolle, the wife of Chikkodi MP Annasaheb Jolle, won in Nippani (Belagavi) Nikhil Katti, the son of former minister Umesh Katti, won in Hukkeri (Belagavi) Avinash Jadhav, the son of Kalaburagi MP Umesh Jadhav, won at Chincholi (Kalaburagi) Arvind Bellad, the son of former MLA Chandrakant Bellad, won in Hubli-Dharwad West (Dharwad) L A Ravisubramanya, the uncle of BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, won in Basavangudi (Bengaluru Urban) Manjula S, the wife of former BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali and sister of MLA S Raghu, won in Mahadevapura (Bengaluru Urban) G B Jyoti Ganesh, the son of BJP MP G S Basavaraju, won in Tumakuru city
