JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, who on more than once had hinted that he will not contest the Lok Sabha elections, on Monday however announced in Bengaluru that he will indeed be in the fray for the upcoming polls.
Gowda, however, said that he had not yet decided on the constituency from where he would contest. But going by the stand taken by the Congress, the former prime minister might end up contesting from Bangalore North. Ever since forsaking the Hassan constituency in favour of his grandson Prajwal, Gowda has been scouting for a constituency.
JD(S) leaders and workers from four different constituencies — Mysore-Kodagu, Tumkur Chikkaballapur and Bangalore North — have been demanding that Gowda contest from their constituency.
However, at a screening committee meeting of the Congress chaired by Karnataka in-charge General Secretary K C Venugopal in New Delhi on Monday, several leaders opposed ceding Chikkaballapur, Tumkur and Kolar currently represented by the party to the JD(S). CLP leader Siddaramaiah also opposed giving the Mysore seat stating that there are strong chances of the Congress winning the constituency this time. He is keen that former minister C H Vijayshankar contest from Mysore.
This imbroglio may result in Gowda contesting from Bangalore North. The constituency is at present represented by Union Minister and BJP MP D V Sadananda Gowda.
Top JD(S) leaders, at a meeting in Bangaluru, felt that Gowda would stand a better chance at winning from this seat, given that the constituency comprises a large Vokkaliga voter base.
The meeting was attended by JD(S) state president H Vishwanath, MP Kupendra Reddy, MLAs K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout) and R Manjunatha (Dasarahalli), JD(S) Bengaluru city president Prakash, Deputy Mayor Bhadre Gowda, party general secretary Zafrullah Khan and corporators.
Kupendra Reddy told DH that Gowda’s candidature from Bangalore North would not only help the JD(S), but also its coalition partner, the Congress, in expanding its base in Bengaluru and its surroundings.
‘Ready for Deve Gowda’
With rumours rife that Sadananda Gowda was thinking of migrating to a different constituency, “fearing” Deve Gowda’s entry into Bangalore North, the BJP leader said that he had no intentions of contesting from any other constituency.
“If the party gives me the ticket from Bangalore North, I will be more than happy to contest from here. I am not scared of Deve Gowda. I respect him. In fact, the contest will be more challenging if he enters the fray from Bangalore North,” added Sadananda Gowda.
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