HASSAN: In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, it was the battle of grandfathers in Hassan as G Puttasamy Gowda of Congress took on JDS supremo and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. The poll made national headlines as Puttaswamy Gowda, once a close confidant of Deve Gowda, won the election by a big margin of 1.41 lakh votes.
Cut to 2024, grandsons of the two towering leaders are pitted against each other. In a changed political scenario, Deve Gowda has vacated the seat for his grandson Prajwal Revanna, who is the BJP-JDS alliance candidate, while Puttaswamy Gowda’s grandkid Shreyas Patel, contesting from Congress, is all determined to snatch the constituency from the sitting MP.
In 2019, Prajwal contested as a Congress-JDS alliance candidate and won. Prajwal draws his strength from his grandfather, who still has a say in the constituency. But party workers allege that he has not taken them into confidence and it would be a tough battle for him this election. It is said that the JDS top leaders too are worried about Prajwal’s prospects this time.
People in the constituency, especially from rural areas, said that Prajwal largely ignored their issues and started visiting their areas only from last year as a preparation for the Lok Sabha elections.
But a senior BJP leader, who wished not to be named, said the BJP-JDS alliance will be an advantage for Prajwal as a large chunk of saffron votes will shift to him and he could also gain from the Modi wave. “He could retain the seat if workers from both parties work diligently for him,” he added.
However, none of Prajwal’s public meetings till now have been attended by BJP leaders or workers. It has left voters wondering whether the alliance is working only at the top level and not percolated down to the grassroots. In fact, Deve Gowda, JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy and top party leader and Prajwal’s father HD Revanna have made repeated attempts to meet former BJP MLA Preetam J Gowda and his followers to seek their support, but in vain.
A veteran politician said Shreyas Patel’s nomination by Congress was unexpected and the young leader has acceptability among his party workers and different sections of society too.
Veerashaiva Lingayats and Dasa Vokkaligas (a sub-caste in Vokkaliga), to which Shrayas belongs, are the deciding factor in the constituency and Congress leaders hope that the two major communities would vote for their candidate.
Shreyas losing the 2023 Holenarasipur Assembly election to JDS candidate HD Revanna by a narrow margin too could work in his favour. There could be a sympathy factor for him, feel Congress leaders. He could get votes from communities not in favour of JDS and also of the entire block of Christian and Kuruba votes. Dasa Vokkaligas, said to be traditional rivals of Deve Gowda -- who belongs to Mullu Vokkaliga, too could lean towards Shrayas.
There seems to be dissatisfaction among people over incomplete works in the district, especially flyovers in Hassan city. They are also unhappy with leaders trying to take political mileage out of development works.
Deve Gowda won from the Hassan parliamentary constituency five times, including a hat-trick of wins in 2004, 2009 and 2014.
The constituency has Hassan, Arasikere, Arakalgud, Belur, Holenarasipur, Kadur, Sakleshpur and Shravanabelagola Assembly segments from Hassan district, and Karur from Chikkamagaluru district.
