Bengaluru: On Friday, the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) announced their highly anticipated second list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. However, the public was more interested in the fact that Bhavani Revanna was denied the JDS ticket for the Hassan Assembly constituency.
Earlier in January this year, there was a family dispute observed between brothers, H. D. Revanna and H. D. Kumaraswamy, over candidature for Hassan. This issue was regarding Bhavani Revanna, H. D. Revanna’s wife, seeking the JDS ticket from Hassan.
While Revanna believed that his wife should get the ticket from Hassan, Kumaraswamy insisted that deserving party workers be given tickets for constituencies where the party had a strong presence. It was reported that Kumaraswamy was likely to field H. P. Swaroop, who was considered to be a capable candidate in Hassan.
Bhavani’s son, Suraj Revanna however expressed support for his mother, claiming that JDS’ victory in Hassan is certain if she contested from the constituency. When the word got out about the disagreement, many JDS party leaders and workers staged a protest. Bhavani and her younger son, Prajwal Revanna spoke to the protestors and convinced them to give up the protest.
It was evident that Bhavani had the support of her husband, Revanna and their two sons Suraj and Prajwal. Ultimately, the plan did not work for Bhavani and her family as the Former Prime Minister and JDS Supremo who also is the father of Revanna, H. D. Deve Gowda is the fountainhead of decision making in the party.
Deve Gowda agreed with Kumaraswamy to let H. P. Swaroop take the position in Hassan as it was a JDS stronghold before BJP’s Preetham Gowda snatched the constituency in 2018. In the second list of JDS which included 49 candidates, H. P. Swaroop is one of the ticket winners.
The family drama that unfolded in Hassan in the past few months was thrown out of the window when the JDS decided to award the Hassan ticket to Swaroop. He is a Former Zilla Panchayat Vice-President who is 40 years of age.
Swaroop is also the son of a four-time Hassan MLA, H. S. Prakash. Prakash had won the Hassan seat first time in 1994 and three consecutive times between 2004 and 2013.
Bhavani on the other hand, has something to look forward to in the upcoming Assembly elections. Sources say that she would be handed a ticket from Chamaraja Assembly constituency in Mysuru District. This would mean that the Revanna family has to now buckle up and fight on foreign soil.