Confusion over HD Deve Gowda's seat sparks rift in family

BENGALURU: All is not well in the Gowda family; a rift seems to be brewing between families of chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and his elder brother HD Revanna over the continuing uncertainty about JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda’s choice of constituency for the Lok Sabha elections.

The dissent was purportedly triggered after Kumaraswamy announced that his son Nikhil would contest from Mandya, a month after the CM vociferously denied media reports of his son entering politics, saying that “his focus is only movies.”

Under pressure from Revanna’s family, Gowda had last year decided to vacate his current constituency Hassan to his grandson Prajwal and contest from Mandya, a long-time bastion of the party. But now with Nikhil’s last-minute entry

into Mandya, Gowda is left to make a choice between Mysuru and Bengaluru North, though it doesn’t seem to be a safe bet for him, especially with a ‘Modi wave’ sweeping in urban centres and alliance partner Congress led by legislature party leader Siddaramaiah refusing to easily concede the Mysuru seat to JD(S).

Revanna’s calculated attack on Sumalatha

Considering this, some party leaders have mounted pressure on Deve Gowda to contest from Hassan again. But, this has reportedly angered and frustrated Revanna, who is making controversial statements against actor Sumalatha who is aspiring to contest from Mandya.

Party insiders said Revanna’s poser on how actor Sumalatha could enter the electoral fray within months of losing her husband, was not a faux-pas but a well-thought out statement, who is now determined to dent Nikhil’s prospects in Mandya to force him to move to Mysuru.

While his remarks made in Delhi to a television channel drew widespread criticism, the minister refused to tender an apology and instead, went on the offensive again. “She (Sumalatha) did drama on screen and is now doing the same in politics”, he said while accusing her of being ungrateful to Kumaraswamy for all his help after the death of actor-politician Ambareesh, making it clear that old wounds are far from healed.

Trouble in the first family had started ahead of the assembly polls in Karnataka last year when Prajwal, who has been working for the party for the past eight years, aspired to contest from Hunsur, much to the discomfort of Kumaraswamy’s family. But Gowda intervened and convinced Prajwal to make way for current JD(S) president AH Vishwanath while assuring him Hassan parliamentary seat. He was also given the party general secretary’s post.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy who made his Sandalwood debut in 2016 with the film, Jaguar followed by Seetharama Kalyana, both produced by his mother Anitha Kumaraswamy, was not involved much in party activities, but decided to take an unexpected electoral plunge to continue the legacy of his father.