Ex-CMs' kids form a dynasts' club

Claims of legacy

Children of six former chief ministers of Karnataka have formed a pressure group and are knocking on the doors of the Congress party for tickets to contest in the elections to the State Assembly.

Kumar Bangarappa, son of the late S Bangarappa, Mamatha Nichani, daughter of the late Ramakrishna Hegde, Mahima Patel, son of the late J H Patel, Kailashnath Patil, son of the late Veerendra Patil, Dinesh Gundu Rao, son of late R Gundu Rao and Dr Ajay Singh, son of Dharam Singh met at the Congress Bhavan here on Monday, and had a chat with party state general secretary B L Shankar who has taken interest in bringing them together and encouraging them to claim their political legacy. One more political legatee, Harsha, son of Veerappa Moily, could not make to the meeting due to a communication gap.

Of the six, Dinesh is a sitting MLA and the president of Bangalore City unit of the party. Kumar Bangarappa is a former minister. He had contested election to the assembly from Soraba in 2008, but lost. Mamatha, Ajay Singh, Kailashnath, and Mahima have also contested polls in the past.

Dynasty politics has been common in Karnataka. All political parties have witnessed the phenomenon. H D Deve Gowda’s sons Kumaraswamy and Revanna run the JD (S), Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra is MP from Shimoga. Ajay Singh or Priyank Kharge, son of Union Minister Mallikharjun Kharge have contested elections using parental political clout. Mamatha contested the by-election to the Assembly from Ramanagara in 2009.

“Assembly elections are fast approaching. We want every member of the party to get involved in strenghtening the party. Even legacy factor may work in our favour.
Hence, the efforts to involve children of former CMs for the party work,” he said.

Aren’t they all ticket aspirants? “Of course, they all want to contest elections. Dinesh is already MLA from Gandhinagar. Except Mamatha and Kailash, the rest have identified constituencies from where they can contest,” Shankar said.

About Harsha Moily, Shankar said: “He was in the US for many years, is an active member of the Congress and into social service. He may try his luck from Karkala, which was earlier represented by his father.”

Dinesh Gundu Rao had a refreshing take. “When the state is getting divided on caste lines, the children of former CMs could promote unity.”