Come May 5, Karnataka will see three members of a family contesting the elections on the same party ticket.
While H D Kumaraswamy, sitting MP from Ramanagar, is contesting from the same Assembly constituency and his wife Anitha, a sitting MLA from Madhugiri Assembly constituency, will contest from Channapatna Assembly seat. His brother H M Revanna, a sitting MLA from Holenarasipur Assembly constituency, is seeking re-election. H D Deve Gowda is the MP from Hassan.
A barrage of criticism about ‘dynastic’ politics has not deterred the Gowda family from contesting elections, be it to the Lok Sabha or Assembly. The family holds the record of the maximum number of elected representatives.
Till recently, only men from the family contested. For a change, Kumaraswamy fielded his wife, Anitha in the by-polls to Madhugiri constituency and got her elected.
Refuting ‘dynasty’ politics, state JD(S) president H D Kumaraswamy told Express that he was proud that people have reposed faith of his family.
“Usually, politicians lose their sheen after one or two elections. But it was a different story as far as my family is concerned as it shows how much the electorate likes us. Anything can be bought but not people’s faith, love and affection,” he said.
He said there are a number of politicians who have got their kin elected once or twice, but the uniqueness of his family is that the voters have not let them down for over 20 years. That can happen only if they maintain a good rapport with them, he added.
Candidate List on April 9
Dropping its proposal of having two conventions, one in Bangalore and another in Hubli, the JD(S) is likely to announce its list of candidates at one go in Bangalore on April 9.
The reason is attributed to shortage of time. Till Monday, JD(S) had planned to hold a big convention in Bangalore to announce its list of candidates from Davangere to Chamarajanagar and another rally in Hubli for the candidates of Mumbai Karnatak and Hyderabad Karnatak region.
“We may cancel the Hubli convention and hold it in Bangalore as only a month is left. The list is ready and is being given the final touches by JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda,” he said.
Candidates for all the 224 Assembly constituencies would be announced on April 9 at a massive rally in Bangalore. The venue is likely to be on the outskirts of the city so that normal life is unaffected.
After the ticket distribution, he said he would go on tour for three-four days to Hyderabad-Karnatak and South Karnataka regions.
He launched his election campaign from Malavalli on Tuesday and would be going to Bangarpet and KGF on April 5; Bagepalli and Chikballapur on April 7 and Pandavapura and Srirangapatna on April 8.
Kumaraswamy said the election manifesto was ready and would be released in a few days.