Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Will the Gowdas regain Hassan this time?

By April third week, all family members, including Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy, displayed a united show, sorted out the issues, and took a huge procession on the nomination day.

Hassan is considered the stronghold of former prime minister and Janata Dal – Secular (JD-S) supremo Deve Gowda. His family enjoys the loyalty of the Vokkaliga community in Karnataka, which is its strong vote bank.

Karnataka goes to polls on May 10, and the results will be declared on May 13. The state has 224 seats and JD(S) is contesting 148 seats.

However, in 2018, for the first time, cracks appeared in the fiefdom when Preetham Gowda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made inroads into the family bastion and won the Hassan assembly seat.

The Gowdas are confident that their monopoly cannot be questioned by just one aberration, and HD Kumaraswamy, the former CM and JD-S chief, is confident his party will sweep all the seven seats in Hassan district, once again.

Of the seven assembly constituencies in the district, which is part of the Old Mysuru region, all eyes are on the Hassan seat this time where BJP’s Preetham Gowda is seeking re-election.

Feud within Gowda clan

This time, however, a family fight within the Gowda clan over ticket distribution came into the open.

Ever since the Mannina Maga (son of the soil) became the Prime Minister in 1996 after he was named as the surprise choice to lead the United Front coalition, that too barely hours after he had clearly said that “I’ve no intention of crossing the Karnataka boundary”, Hassan has shot into national limelight.

It all started in January 2023, much before the election dates were announced when Bhavani Revenna, wife of Deve Gowda’s eldest son and former minister HD Revanna, proclaimed herself as the JD -S candidate from Hassan constituency.

But HD Revanna’s brother and former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy quickly came up with a rejoinder, saying it was not the party’s decision and the party would prefer an ordinary worker.

In the following days, the Gowda family feud came out into the open, with both camps sticking to their stand before Deve Gowda, despite his ill-health, had to chip in and broker a truce, with the party deciding to field the late HS Prakash’s (who had represented the constituency four times – 1994, 2004, 2008 and 2018) son HP Swaroop.

By April third week, all family members, including Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy, displayed a united show, sorted out the issues, and took a huge procession on the nomination day.

“He is like my son and we will make sure of his victory. Not just that we will win all the seven seats as a birthday present...,” said Bhavani Revanna, referring to Deve Gowda’s birthday on May 18, when the patriarch turns 90.

Though Bhavani fell in line with the party’s decision, it remains to be seen how much damage her antics have caused to the party in a constituency where the demand for better connectivity, water supply and more industries increases by the day.

“JD -S is very strong in the region and these are small issues which are unlikely to affect the voting pattern. They have a very strong support base at the grassroots level and the masses back them up blindly,” said Sanjeev Pujari, who works as a supervisor in a coffee plantation at Hassan.

Hassan’s bond with the Gowdas

In the 2019 Parliament elections which the BJP swept, Hassan was the saving grace for JD-S, with HD Revanna’s son Prajwal Revanna winning it by a margin of more than 1.4 lakh votes. Though Deve Gowda switched to Tumkur to accommodate Prajwal, he bit the dust while Hassan kept its faith in the Gowdas by pitching in for Prajwal, who was making his electoral debut.

So close is the family bond with Hassan that Prajwal even decided to resign from the seat, before being forced to reverse his decision by the senior Gowda.

The Hassan assembly constituency too had been a JD -S bastion until Preetham stunned HS Prakash in 2018. The constituency is dominated by the Dasa Vokkaliga community, which was one reason why Swaroop got the nod over Bhavani, who hails from the Mullu Vokkaliga community.

The Congress has fielded BK Rangaswamy (another Dasa Vokkaliga), but the constituency is likely to see a straight fight between the JD -S and the BJP. But if Rangaswamy garners more minority votes, that will spell trouble for Swaroop.

Holenarsipur and Belur

Just like Hassan, equally important is the nearby Holenarasipur constituency for the JD -S and the Deve Gowda family, which has been represented by HD Revanna four consecutive terms (five in all), with his victory margin increasing every time.

This is a constituency which was once represented by Deve Gowda himself (during his Janata Parivar days before he switched to Ramanagara when he became the Chief Minister in 1994). HD Revanna should have found it relatively easy this time in Holenarsipur, which will see a four-cornered contest with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also in the fray.

“While it will be a tough fight with BJP having an upper hand in Hassan, Holenarsipur is a relatively easy seat for the Gowda family. However, people are losing faith in the JD -S and the Congress can split their votes,” said Manjunatha Maney, a farmer.

The JD -S will strongly fancy its chances in the nearby Belur seat as well, where its incumbent MLA Lingesha KS is seeking re-election. Belur will see a three-cornered contest with the BJP once again fielding HK Suresh, who lost to Lingesha by 19,690 votes in 2018. B Shivram has secured the Congress ticket.

All three main parties have done high-pitch campaigning in Hassan, with their national leaders flocking to the district. Union Home Minister Amit Shah led the BJP’s charge while the Congress had its star campaigner Rahul Gandhi on the ground and virtually the entire who-is-who of the Gowda family for JD -S.

In the 2018 assembly elections, barring Hassan, JD -S had bagged all six seats from the district – Holenarsipur, Belur, Arasikere, Sravanabelagola, Saklespur and Arkalgud.

With the JD -S keen to regain the prestigious Hassan seat, can it eye a clean sweep to give a befitting tribute to their patriarch Deve Gowda, who possibly could retire from electoral politics before the next assembly polls?

Hassan district has 14.85 lakh voters including 7,38,003 women. MS Archana, IAS, District Electoral Officer, said: “There are 19,279 specially abled and 38,954 voters who are above 80 years age, including 590 centenarians and 6,744 who are above 90 years. A total of 1997 polling stations are prepared for the single-phase elections on May 10.”