Karnataka elections: How dynastic politics killed a promising regional party

JD (S) is a splinter group of the Janata Party that first came to power in the state in 1983 with Ramakrishna Hegde as the Chief Minister.

The Janata Dal (Secular) hopes to form the government on its own in Karnataka and has set a target of winning 123 out of the 224 assembly seats. But even as the party readies itself for the electoral battle ahead, a war of sorts has broken out in its own backyard exposing the chinks in the HD Deve Gowda family.
At the epicentre of this family feud is Bhavani Revanna, the wife of HD Revanna, party supremo Deve Gowda’s elder son, who is adamant on contesting from Hassan, the hotbed of Vokkaliga politics. Ordinarily, this should not have posed a problem because the JD(S) anyway is known for its family-first brand of politics.

Brother Vs Brother

But surprisingly, the opposition to Bhavani’s candidature has come from within the family itself, mainly from Revanna’s younger brother HD Kumaraswamy, the second-in-command in the party hierarchy, who is insisting that the ticket go to a loyal JD(S) worker. This is the first time Kumaraswamy is interfering in the affairs of Hassan, which otherwise was considered Revanna’s fiefdom.

Admittedly, Kumaraswamy had promised the seat to HP Swaroop, the son of late HD Prakash, a four-time JD(S) MLA from Hassan who had lost to BJP’s Preetam Gowda in 2018. Revanna, whose personal animosity with Preetam Gowda is well known, believes that only Bhavani can win back the seat for JD(S).

Deve Gowda’s attempts to broker peace between the brothers have so far not borne fruit with both sides refusing to budge from their stand. Until now, the family always presented a picture of unity and the present acrimony has led to speculation that a succession war has broken out in the party with the senior Gowda who is nearing 90, keeping poor health.

Family Over Party

On the domestic front, it is perhaps not lost on Bhavani that while she had to remain content with a mere Zilla Panchayat membership, her sister-in-law Anitha Kumaraswamy was given the party ticket to contest the Assembly elections twice and managed to win once in 2018 from Ramanagara. Within her own immediate family too, Bhavani is the odd one out. Her husband Revanna is an MLA from Holenarasipura, her son Prajwal is an MP from Hassan, while another son Suraj is an MLC.

The Gowdas are known to go to any length to further their family’s interests, which is why the dilly-dallying over Bhavani has come as a surprise. During the 2019 parliamentary elections for instance, Deve Gowda vacated the Hassan seat and shifted to Tumakuru to pave way for his grandson Prajwal.

Another grandson Nikhil contested from Mandya, a JD(S) stronghold, displacing the party’s then sitting MP LR Shivarame Gowda. Prajwal won, but both Deve Gowda and Nikhil lost. While Deve Gowda was later sent to Rajya Sabha, Anitha now has relinquished her Ramanagara seat in favour of her son, Nikhil. In both cases, the seats went not to any “loyal worker” but to family members.

Ruins Of A Power Grab
For the uninitiated, JD (S) is a splinter group of the Janata Party that first came to power in the state in 1983 with Ramakrishna Hegde as the Chief Minister. In 1994, the party was elected under a new avatar, Janata Dal, this time, with Deve Gowda heading the government. A quirk of fate elevated him as the Prime Minister in June 1996 and one of his first acts after assuming office was to expel Hegde from the party.

In the coming years, anybody who posed a threat to Gowda or his family and that included Siddaramaiah, would be systematically jettisoned. In 1999, the Janata Dal itself split, with the then Chief Minister JH Patel going with Janata Dal(U) and Gowda launching JD(S).

JD(S), which could have emerged as a strong regional outfit in Karnataka on the lines of its counterparts in neighbouring states, has frittered away an opportunity that was handed over to it on a golden platter. Bereft of any ideological mooring or values, the party is known for running with the hare and hunting with the hounds, having formed coalition governments with both BJP and Congress.

The party, no doubt, needs to reform if it has to survive, but the question is, will it be able to shake off years of nepotism, rank opportunism and unethical compromises which have come to define it. While Kumaraswamy is doing his best to revive the party almost single handedly, it could be a case  of locking the stables after the horses have bolted.