Gowda, grandsons to acquire HMT?
Guess who will get HMT? Not that famed watchmaker, it’s new acronyms for new times. HMT stands for Hassan Mandya Tumkur - the three hot seats contested by members of the JDS first family, H D Deve Gowda, Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna.
Their prospects are a hotly debated matter in political circles right now. Some leaders, mainly those belonging to the Balija community who have identified themselves with Sumalatha Ambareesh, feel that the ‘M’ may drop out of HMT, especially after some casteist remarks by JDS leader L R Shivarame Gowda. Even ‘T’ may crumble, as Shivarame Gowda’s remarks have had long-range adverse effects, and rebel Congress MLAs have extended tacit support to BJP candidate G S Basavaraju in Tumkur. Only ‘H’ appears to be fairly on course for a win. In Tumakuru, though, Hindustan Machine Tools still holds a special place for a number of old-timers, though it shut its manufacturing unit a couple of years ago.
Dancing to the Habba spirit
Politicians don’t restrict their moves to the political chessboard — they can take the floor with elan both in the House and out of it. In this case, on open fields of KR Pet, at the Kygondanahalli Grama Habba. As the traditional cymbals clanged rhythmically, a mesmerised audience swayed along, and KR Pet MLA Narayan Gowda kept in tune. When the tamate drummers picked up the beat, both Gowda and his supporters could hold themselves no longer, breaking into rigorous moves — rustic tiger dance steps that suited the habba spirit. Gowda was one of the MLAs who had gone missing in the January rebel drama that had played out in Bengaluru and Mumbai, but beat a hasty retreat as Operation Lotus fell through. Recently, Hoskote MLA MTB Nagaraj had gyrated to some sinuous ‘Nagin’ music, and gone viral on social media.