By Nagarjun Dwarakanath: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and his brother HD Revanna are at loggerheads over who would contest the upcoming state elections from Hassan constituency.
Bhavani Revanna, JDS supreme HD Deve Gowda’s daughter-in-law and HD Revanna’s wife, has publicly announced that she wants to contest from Hassan seat.
However, Kumaraswamy, who is in charge of the party, vehemently opposed this move and said workers need to be given a ticket and can’t have anyone from the Revanna family contest the poll from Hassan.
Revanna’s son, Suraj, who is a JDS MLC, has thrown his weight behind his mother’s candidature.
JDS, which has already announced a list of 93 candidates for the assembly polls, has yet to finalise one for Hassan constituency.
Other aspirants from JD(S) for the seat include, H P Swaroop, a former Hassan Zilla Panchayat vice-president and son of former MLA HS Prakash. He has been visiting villages along with his supporters.
Eight members of Gowda’s immediate family are active politicians.
Deve Gowda is a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, while his son Kumaraswamy is a former CM and MLA from Channapatna. Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha is an MLA from Ramanagara segment, and his son Nikhil, who is the JD(S) youth wing president, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mandya.
The party supremo’s elder son, HD Revanna, is a former minister and MLA from Holenarsipura, his wife, Bhavani Revanna, was a member of the Hassan Zilla Panchayat, and their sons, Prajwal and Suraj, are MPs from Hassan and MLCs, respectively.