Hassan: Two Gowda scions take their families’ legendary political battle into third generation
In the 1980s and 1990s, HD Deve Gowda, the former PM, and G Puttaswamy Gowda, a former minister, dominated the district politics.
While the ex-PM was an important leader of the Janata Party and later Janta Dal and now JDS, Gowda had been the local Congress face.
Both sported white dhoti and white shirts and were deeply engaged in Hassan district politics. Both enjoyed the backing of Vokkaligas, the second largest community in Karnataka. Both fought for the assembly seat of Holenarasipur before extending their fight in the Hassan Lok Sabha seat.
Cut to 2024, their grandsons are flexing their muscles. While Ex-PM’s grandson Prajwal Revanna (33), the sitting MP, is contesting as NDA candidate, Gowda’s grandson Shreyas Patel (31) is the Congress party’s nominee.
The two veterans Gowdas first faced off against each other in the Holenarasipur assembly seat in 1985. The ex-PM fought on a Janata Party ticket and won against Gowda, contesting as an independent. The ex-PM, however, lost against Gowda in the 1989 assembly and 1999 Lok Sabha polls.HD Revanna, son of Deve Gowda, however, has been holding steady in Holenarasipur, winning election after election, first against Puttaswamy Gowda and in later years against his daughter-in-law SG Anupama. In May 2023 assembly polls, Patel, as Congress candidate, lost to Revanna by 3000-odd votes. This is, in fact, the second LS election for Prajwal after Deve Gowda passed on the seat to him after winning it five times. In 2019, Revanna Jr won against BJP’s A Manju. With Manju switching to JDS later and winning the Arkalgud assembly seat, last year, he is now at Prajwal’s side. The Congress is pinning hopes on Patel, who is also a former member of Hassan Zilla Panchayat.
There has been a big change in Hassan’s political landscape since 2019. Back then, Revanna Jr was the JDS-Congress coalition candidate, and the BJP was his rival. But now, he is fighting the Congress after the JDS tied up with the BJP in September last year. The JDS embraced the BJP after it suffered its most humiliating defeat of the last two decades in last year’s assembly polls.
While the JDS candidate is hopeful of winning the traditional votes of the party besides those of the pro-Modi voters, the Congress candidate is betting on the party’s committed votes as well as those of BJP voters who are not comfortable with the alliance with the regional party.
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