BENGALURU: Former chief minister and JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Mandya, the regional party announced on Friday.
HD Revanna’s son and incumbent MP Prajwal Revanna will seek reelection from Hassan, while M Mallesh Babu will be the candidate from Kolar.
As part of its alliance with the BJP, the JDS got three seats Hassan, Mandya, and Kolar. The BJP has already announced its candidates for 25 seats.
BJP-JDS leaders have held a series of meetings to ensure proper coordination between the leaders and workers at all levels.
While Prajwal’s candidature was already decided, all eyes were on Mandya. In 2019, Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil lost against Sumalatha Ambareesh, who had contested as an independent candidate backed by BJP.
While JDS has a strong base in the district, the BJP’s support will be crucial for the party.
In Kolar, JDS candidate Mallesh will be hoping to make the most of the differences among the local Congress leaders that has delayed the announcement of the candidate. Mallesh had contested Assembly polls from Bangarpet and lost by a narrow margin.