Karnataka elections: Tussle over JD(S) ticket for Hassan constituency intensifies

The Hassan assembly constituency was a JD(S) stronghold for many years. But Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA J Preetham Gowda managed to break the JD (S) monopoly in the 2018 election.

The fight for a Janata Dal (Secular) or JD (S) party ticket to contest from the Hassan constituency in the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka intensified after former minister H D Revanna’s wife Bhavani announced that she would contest from the seat.

HD Kumaraswamy said he wants to win 120 seats in the state as a gift to Deve Gowda (PTI)

During her participation in the inaugural function of a temple at Kekkanalli in Hassan taluk on January 23, Bhavani told reporters that the party leaders decided to field her from Hassan, and her name would be announced soon.

Her statement created resentment not only from another key ticket aspirant H S Swaroop, but party president, H D Kumaraswamy, who denied the selection of the candidate.

“The party high command would decide the candidates for all the constituencies. We have not yet finalised the ticket to Bhavani Revanna,” Kumaraswamy told reporters on Saturday.

When reporters asked about his reaction to party supremo H D Deve Gowda’s statement that he would decide the candidate for Hassan, Kumaraswamy said, “Please don’t bring up Deve Gowda’s name. I want him to have a long life.”

Kumaraswamy said he wants to win 120 seats in the state as a gift to Deve Gowda, adding that the party has given tickets to 4-5 women and Bhavani is not inevitable for Hassan.

Interestingly, Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna supported the candidature of his mother Bhavani, saying the chances of her winning are more. Another son of Bhavani, MLC Suraj Revanna, supported her, saying though she is not inevitable, “we should regain the constituency we lost in 2018”.

The Hassan assembly constituency is the stronghold of the party for many years. But Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA J Preetham Gowda managed to break the JD (S) monopoly in the 2018 election.

On the other hand, the son of former MLA H S Prakash, who represented the JD(S) from this constituency four times, former zilla parishad vice president and youth leader H P Swaroop, is a key aspirant for the JDS ticket.

“The party is yet to take the final decision on its candidate for Hassan. I don’t know why Bhavani Revanna made a statement claiming that the party had decided to nominate her from the Hassan seat,” Swaroop told HT.

He said he still hoped Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy would take the final call, and he would stand by the party’s decision. He said he has already begun campaigning in the constituency and visiting the voters of the constituency.

On Saturday, supporters of Bhavani Revanna and H P Swaroop held separate demonstrations in front of both leaders’ houses, demanding tickets for their leaders.

For the first time in the history of JD(S), the brothers H D Revanna and Kumaraswamy are at loggerheads over who would be the candidate for the Hassan constituency. Hassan is the home district of party supremo Deve Gowda, and the party in 2018 assembly polls had won in six out of seven segments other than the Hassan seat, which BJP’s Preetham Gowda secured, making it the first-ever winner of the saffron party in the Vokkaliga-dominated district.