BENGALURU: Hassan is set to witness a battle of the grandsons of two stalwarts in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The Congress high command is likely to clear the name of former MP late G Puttaswamy Gowda’s grandson Shreyas M Patel, and pitch him against former PM HD Deve Gowda’s grandson and incumbent MP Prajwal Revanna, according to sources.
More importantly, Shreyas is a relative of DCM and KPCC president DK Shivakumar.
Puttaswamy Gowda had defeated Deve Gowda in the 1999 LS polls, and Shreyas missed winning Holenarasipura assembly seat in the May 2023 polls by a whisker. Up against Deve Gowda’s son HD Revanna, Shreyas bagged 84,951 (45.81 per cent) votes against Revanna’s 88,108 (47.51 pc).
Impressed by his performance, the Congress has chalked out a plan to field Shreyas, with the hope that a section of Vokkaligas, a majority of Dalits, minorities and Veerashaiva Lingayats would vote against the Gowda clan.
District minister KN Rajanna, a staunch supporter of CM Siddaramaiah, and Gowda’s bete noire, has proposed Shreyas’ name, and the high command is likely to clear it in the first list, sources said.
BJP leaders in Hassan, including former Hassan MLA Preetham Gowda, have already started waging a war against the Gowda clan, especially Revanna’s family. Revanna’s second son Dr Suraj Revanna is also the MLC from local bodies of the district.
The Gowda clan may have been ruling the roost in Hassan politics, but leaders of rival parties are aiming to wrest the district from the family’s clutches. The Congress is looking to capitalise on the situation, and CM Siddaramaiah has deployed Rajanna to prepare the ground for a good battle.
“Shreyas has pedigree and fire in the belly to emerge as a Vokkaliga community leader in the district. He is also on good terms with the rest of the communities and their leaders, including Dalits. He fits the bill to take on the Gowda clan,” a Congress leader observed. His father Mahesh died early and his mother SG Anupama had contested unsuccessfully against Revanna in the past. Now, Shreyas will continue the legacy of his grandfather Puttaswamy Gowda.
If the survey finds that the going will be tough for Prajwal Revanna, JDS-BJP alliance leaders will have second thoughts about fielding him, a source said.