HASSAN: “In 1962 and 1967, when he (HD Deve Gowda) contested as an independent in two consecutive elections, we had pushed his bicycle (his symbol). A person from this tiny hilly area went on to hoist the national flag at Red Fort in New Delhi. He has done so much for Hassan. The next generation of politicians is here, but our loyalties to Gowda and his party will not change,” said 78-year-old Subraya Gowda, a resident of Haradanahalli.
This tiny village in the Holenarasipura Assembly segment is where JDS supremo Deve Gowda started his political career. Over the years, he has built a phenomenal political base, earlier for Janata Party and now for JDS, in Hassan district. While six constituencies in the district have JDS MLAs, the Hassan constituency itself is with BJP, represented by Preetham J Gowda.
Deve Gowda, despite his age — 90, and ailments, took out a roadshow on Thursday evening in the constituency seeking votes for the party candidate HP Swaroop.
The district, which is agriculture-oriented, is dominated by Vokkaligas, Muslims, SCs and OBCs, while there is a small presence of Lingayats.
Wasim Pasha, who runs a bicycle shop on Salagame Road in Hassan town, said his choice of candidate this time is Preetham because of the development works the young MLA has taken up.
Pasha’s neighbour NS Narasimha Murthy, too, seconded him, saying that when Preetham could do so much as a first-time MLA, there is hope that he could do more in his second term.
Voters here said that Preetham helped people during the difficult Covid times, constructed houses at Siddaiah Nagar slum, and ensured new underground drainage lines and concrete roads were laid, all in the last five years.
Swaroop, however, is putting up a spirited fight. Both Preetham and Swaroop belong to the Dasa Vokkaliga sub-sect, while Deve Gowda is a Mullu Vokkaliga. A strong pitch from Deve Gowda could change equations here, local people say.
Sakleshpur, 40 km from Hassan, is represented by JDS MLA HK Kumaraswamy, but he is facing a tough fight from Congress in this election. In Belur, the contest is between JDS and BJP. Indira Bai from Javagal in Belur constituency said a majority of voters supported JDS all these years, but there are winds of change this time, as they want to give BJP a chance this time, hoping for development.
JDS may find it difficult to retain both constituencies. At Arsikere, too, JDS may not be the flavour of the season. MLA Shivalingegowda, who quit JDS and joined Congress, looks to romp home, predicted Sridhar, a resident. “Before 2008, this was a Congress bastion. But in the last three elections, Shivalingegowda won from JDS. This year, now that he has joined Congress, he will garner more votes,” he said.
But it is JDS all the way at Holenarsipura, Arkalgud and Shravanabelagola. Ramesh, a farmer from Arkalgud, said, “We cannot forget what Deve Gowda has done for Hassan district. We cannot even think of voting for a BJP or Congress here,” he said.
Ravi from Haradanahalli said that Deve Gowda’s son HD Revanna, too, has done a lot of work. Shreyas Patel, the grandson of Puttaswamy Gowda who defeated Deve Gowda in 1989 at Holenarsipura, is contesting against Revanna. He is putting up a spirited fight, though Revanna has a firm grip on the constituency. In 2018, JDS candidates from all the seven Assembly segments got 5.69 lakh votes in all, as against Congress’ 3.76 lakh and BJP’s 2.04 lakh. Following year, Prajwal Revanna, who was contesting the Lok Sabha elections, got over 6 lakh votes, as he was a JDS-Congress coalition candidate. This time, the equation may change.
(With inputs from Udaya Kumar BR)