Gowda, sons and their politics
ON HIS debut in electoral politics in 1996, H.D. Kumaraswamy had to fend off questions on how he could play a one-day international without even the experience of first-division cricket.
The analogy — how he could contest a parliamentary poll on debut — continues to bother Kumaraswamy in his new avatar as commander of the JD(S)-BJP combine. For, this son of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda is a first-time legislator, who has staked claim to form a new government in Karnataka. Unlike his elder brother H.D. Revanna, Kumaraswamy has never even occupied the position of a minister so far.
A decade ago, a reticent Kumaraswamy would attribute his rise to “father’s blessings”. That year, he entered the Lok Sabha to witness Gowda’s rise to the PM’s chair. This time, for obvious reasons, his father’s blessings are not being counted in public —with Gowda taking a stand against his son’s decision to find an ally in the BJP.
But contrary to his public posture, Gowda had called on A.B. Vajpayee and other BJP leaders in Delhi this month. “Today is the saddest day in my 50-year political career,” Gowda said when he heard his son had staked claim to form the government. As part of the strategy to demonstrate his differences with Kumaraswamy, Gowda will address a rally of party workers on January 23.
{{/usCountry}}But contrary to his public posture, Gowda had called on A.B. Vajpayee and other BJP leaders in Delhi this month. “Today is the saddest day in my 50-year political career,” Gowda said when he heard his son had staked claim to form the government. As part of the strategy to demonstrate his differences with Kumaraswamy, Gowda will address a rally of party workers on January 23.
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