Bengaluru:
HD Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal (Secular) today released a second list featuring 49 names for the May 10 Karnataka polls, ending the chatter and family suspense over who will get the key Hassan seat.
HP Swaroop, a former Hassan zilla panchayat vice-president and son of former MLA late HS Prakash, will contest from Hassan seat, for which Mr Kumaraswamy’s sister-in-law was also in the running. Mr Kumaraswamy had underlined in the past that a party worker should be given a ticket in Hassan and that there was no question of any compromise on this.
HD Revanna’s wife Bhavani Revanna also wanted to contest from Hassan.
HD Kumaraswamy chaired the meet with party patriarch Deve Gowda and brother HD Revanna and made it clear that Bhavani Revanna, his sister-in-law, would not be fielded as the candidate from Hassan amid talks of family dynasty politics.
“Bhavani Revanna spoke to me this morning. Revanna and I have discussed and decided…. As Revanna has said yesterday, there can be no differences in the family as was being speculated in the media. Hassan’s candidate has been finalised with the consent of Revanna and Bhavani Revanna,” said Mr Kumaraswamy flanked by his brother Mr Revanna and JD(S) state president CM Ibrahim.
The rift within the Gowda family over the Hassan ticket had widened to the extent that Mr Kumaraswamy had invoked the battle of ‘Kurukshetra’ in the epic Mahabharata to allege that some ‘Shakunis’ were trying to brainwash his brother Revanna.
Hassan is the home district of Deve Gowda, and the party in 2018 Assembly polls had won in six out of seven segments other than the Hassan Assembly seat, which BJP’s Preetham Gowda clinched, making it the first ever win for the saffron party in the Vokkaliga dominated district.
Farmer leader Kadabur Manjunath will contest from Gundlupet.
In Bengaluru, M Munegowda will contest from Yelahanka, Mohammad Mustaf from Sarvagnanagar and Javare Gowda will contest from Yeshwantpur.
Former Minister A Manju, who recently joined the party, has been fielded from Arakalagudu. He has earlier been with both Congress and BJP.
The JD(S) had announced its first list of 93 candidates back in December.
