The tussle is now in the open with HD Kumaraswamy and HD Revanna fighting from their corners, the latter being supportive of his wife’s wish to contest from the JDS stronghold. This has not only delayed the second list of JDS candidates for the upcoming May 10 election, but has also led to speculations of Bhavani standing as an Independent candidate from Hassan if she is denied a ticket from the party.
An adamant Bhavani has refused to buckle down even as her brother-in-law Kumaraswamy has been making it clear that she will not be fielded.
Until recently, the differences within the family were resolved within the four walls of the Gowda household, with Deve Gowda having the final word. This time too, JDS leaders say it will be senior Gowda who will have the final say. Hassan is the home district of Deve Gowda.
It is further learned that Bhavani’s sons — Prajwal Revanna, a Lok Sabha MP from Hassan, and Suraj Revanna, an MLC — will offer to resign from their posts as a sign of protest if their mother’s wish is not fulfilled, say JDS insiders.
In the late-night meeting on Monday, Kumaraswamy tried to put up a bold face despite the hostility and claimed that an amicable solution would be found soon.
“Everything will be sorted in a couple of days. There is zero tolerance for rebellion in the JDS and everybody’s opinion will be taken before coming to a final decision. The sentiments of the party workers will be respected and nobody will bow down to any sort of pressure,” he said in a statement that is being read as a signal to the other group led by Bhavani.
Deve Gowda, despite his failing health, has stepped in thrice in the past week to broker a truce between the two groups, it is learned. However, the talks ended in a stalemate. Revanna has made it clear that he feels that Bhavani should be fielded from the district. Bhavani, who is known to be quite popular among the JDS party workers in the Hassan district and has also worked from the grassroots for the JDS, contested the Zilla parishad elections in 2016 and won.
As of now, the JDS has announced a list of 93 candidates for the assembly polls but is yet to finalise the candidature for Hassan as well.
“There is a strong chance that Bhavani will stand as an Independent and if she does, she will surely win. That will turn out to be a major embarrassment for the JDS and even Bhavani would not like to drag her family name into such an embarrassing situation,” said a Hassan-based JDS leader who is aware of the developments.
“If Bhavani stands from Hassan with a JDS ticket, the sitting BJP MLA will stand no chance and the party can regain its hold in the seat which it lost in 2018,” the leader added.
Those close to Kumaraswamy say the leader had initially zeroed in on HP Swaroop as the probable candidate for the contentious seat but Bhavani felt this was the right time for her to launch herself into state politics and had requested the party high command to give her the ticket.
Kumaraswamy has repeatedly stated that no decision on the seat has been made as it would be taken democratically by the JDS parliamentary board. However, as the issue gathered heat, there was a lot of sound and fury from the Bhavani camp seeking a ticket for her.
“If Bhavani Revanna needed to contest, I would have fielded her myself. I don’t see it necessary today, because we already have a capable candidate there (Hassan),” said a statement by Kumaraswamy a few months ago which was viewed as a public snub. The ‘capable candidate’ Swaroop, whom Kumaraswamy has been referring to, is the son of four-time JDS MLA from Hassan late HS Prakash.
As a way of compromise, Deve Gowda is said to have even offered Bhavani an MLC ticket but she is said to have made it clear that she has set her sights on an MLA ticket.
This is not the first time that Bhavani has pushed her political ambitions and sought a ticket from Hassan. When Anitha Kumaraswamy was given a JDS ticket from Madhugiri in 2008, she too sought one for herself. At the time she was advised by Deve Gowda to ‘wait for the right time’, which she did.
Those close to the Gowda family speak of how Bhavani learned the ropes of politics by standing in the shadows of Deve Gowda and the senior leader had a hand in grooming her as a politician. She also worked closely with her husband Revanna (Holenarsipura MLA) and Deve Gowda (when he was Hassan’s Lok Sabha MP).
Kumaraswamy is also upset with the name of his wife being dragged into the ticket controversy. There have been media reports of his wife Anitha seeking the Tumkur Rural ticket if the JDS gives Hassan to Bhavani.
Kumaraswamy firmly rejected this and went on to clarify why she contested three elections until now. The JDS leader said his wife was forced to fight elections by him to “save the pride of the party” as the JDS did not have suitable party candidates in the seats she contested from.
Media reports also spoke of the friction between the two sisters-in-law Anitha and Bhavani over the former being given ample opportunities to contest elections while Bhavani waited on the sidelines.
Defending his wife, Kumaraswamy said Anitha has expressed that she has no interest in electoral politics and will not want to continue in it.
“Please, I speak to you with folded hands. The reason why I made Anitha Kumaraswamy contest in three elections is that the party did not have suitable candidates in those seats. I had misused her (in politics) and she agreed to stand only to save the pride of the party. I decided to get her into politics and ask her to contest,” an upset Kumaraswamy told the media.
The Gowda family, which has often faced criticism for indulging in ‘dynastic politics’, has seven family members in active politics representing the JDS in all the four major houses of public representatives — Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Assembly, and Legislative Council.
Former PM and Rajya Sabha MP HD Deve Gowda, his sons HD Revanna and HD Kumaraswamy (Channapatana) are MLAs, while his daughter-in-law Anitha Kumaraswamy currently represents the Ramanagara assembly segment. His grandsons Prajwal and Suraj Revanna represent Hassan as MP and MLC respectively. Gowda’s third grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy made it to the first list of the JDS for the upcoming polls and will contest from Ramanagara. The Kannada actor-turned-politician Nikhil is the president of the JD(S) youth wing chief and had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Mandya against Independent Sumalatha Ambareesh.
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