BENGALURU: Brothers H D Kumaraswamy and H D Revanna are busy with their pet poll project: the launch of their sons, Nikhil and Prajwal. The duo — one the state chief minister and the other a cabinet minister — are pulling out all stops to give the Gowda grandsons a grand debut into Parliament. Kumaraswamy met eight MLAs, MLCs, three ministers and other senior leaders in Mandya on Wednesday to ensure they put together a memorable gathering when Nikhil Kumaraswamy files his candidature on March 25.
He also met 41 members of the ZP and JD(S) and Congress workers, and asked them not to let their guard down, and also ensure Nikhil’s victory. The party, that watched Sumalatha’s formidable fan following on Wednesday with some consternation, is now considering bringing in a large number of supporters.
Sumalatha filed her nomination with superstars Darshan and Yash, with thousands of people rallying behind her. On Monday, Karnataka’s first family will visit Kalikamba temple, and from there, they will take the road for over 1 km, and Nikhil will file his nomination papers by noon.
Revanna, who has a deep belief in astrology, is also expected to put up a formidable show as he prepares to get son Prajwal to file his nomination at the ‘auspicious’ hour of 1pm on Friday. They have made elaborate plans to visit three temples before that -- Haradanahalli Lakshminarayana Swamy Temple, Eshwar Temple and Mavinakere Ranganathaswamy temple. The road show is bound to draw thousands of JD(S) supporters.
Siddaramaiah to accompany Nikhil?
In yet another show of unity, JD(S)-Congress leaders have now floated the idea that former CM Siddaramaiah be present when JD(S) candidate from Mandya, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, files his nomination papers. CM H D Kumaraswamy will join Congress candidate C H Vijayshankar when he files his papers to contest from Mysuru. Sources said that a minister is working on this idea. However, this will be finalised only after Siddaramaiah returns after the screening committee meeting in New Delhi. The allies are also planning to hold campaign rallies and roadshows together.