In Karnataka, voters pull plug on ‘grand’ HD show

NEW DELHI:In a stunning upset, former PM H D Deve Gowda suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of BJP candidate G S Basavaraj in Tumakuru, virtually bringing down the curtains on a successful sixdecade-old political career.


The 86-year-old Janata Dal (S) patriarch, riding high on the unexpected outcome of last year’s state polls which saw his son with paltry seats become chief minister of Karnataka, had nurtured high hopes of playing an important role in an anti-BJP coalition at the Centre. His defeat coupled with his grandson Nikhil Kumar’s in Mandya, to independent Sumalatha Ambareesh, is a clear signal by the voters, even the Vokkaliga ones, that putting dynastic interests ahead of a party’s has no takers in these changed times.

Gowda had decided to contest from Tumakuru at the last moment, sacrificing his traditional seat, Hassan, to his other grandson, Prajwal Revanna, who, incidentally defeated his BJP rival by a huge margin. The decimation of Gowda and his grandson is also seen a major setback for the future of the JD(S), which had returned to power in the state after a gap of 15 years with the support of Congress in May 2018.

The shocking defeats puts a question mark on the political future of JD(S)’ first family. Some political observers blame none but Gowda himself for the mess he finds himself in as he put family unity above party interest. He succumbed to the power struggle between chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his other son H D Revanna and opted to give tickets to both his grandsons much to chagrin of his party leaders and workers.

Initially, Kumaraswamy was not keen on launching Nikhil in politics as the focus was on the latter’s acting career. Only after Gowda announced that he would let go of his Hassan seat to Prajwal did Kumaraswamy bat for Nikhil.

Ceding Hassan and Mandya (another Vokkaliga bastion), Gowda voluntarily walked into political sanyas in Tumakuru. The former PM lost by 13,000 votes as the alliance with Congress failed to work for him. In fact, there was severe discontentment among local Congress leaders and workers over the denial of the ticket to sitting Congress MP to accommodate Gowda.