Alliance on sticky wicket on Deve Gowda's home turf

The Hassan Lok Sabha segment is on tenterhooks with local BJP leaders annoyed about sitting MP and alliance partner JD(S) candidate Prajwal Revanna.

The Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which former prime minister H D Deve Gowda represented five times, is on tenterhooks with local BJP leaders annoyed about sitting MP and alliance partner JD(S) candidate Prajwal Revanna. 

The dissonance resulted in senior JD(S) leader H D Revanna and Prajwal dashing to BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa’s residence to hold talks on Thursday. BJP state president B Y Vijayendra was also there. Revanna and Prajwal walked out with an assurance that the BJP will work with JD(S) to ensure victory. 

“We sought his support and blessing. Yediyurappa said he’d work as if it was his own election,” Prajwal said. “We want to see Narendra Modi become the prime minister again and I’d like to contribute to that.” 

Prajwal is facing resistance from local BJP leaders, especially former Hassan MLA Preetham Gowda.

“He was a little disgruntled. We’ve sorted it out. Once a joint campaign meeting is held, everything will be fine,” Prajwal added. 

Hassan is widely seen as a JD(S) stronghold. Of the eight Assembly segments that come under this Lok Sabha seat, the JD(S) holds four, BJP and Congress two each. 

The Congress has fielded Shreyas Patel, who lost to Revanna by just 3,152 votes in Holenarsipura Assembly segment, last year. 

After it became clear that Prajwal will be re-nominated as the JD(S) candidate, local BJP leaders petitioned the party seeking a new candidate. Their argument is that Prajwal is facing anti-incumbency. 

“After news spread that the BJP may ask for Prajwal to be replaced, he and his father (Revanna) started reaching out to BJP leaders. But this is unlike other constituencies. An alliance is impossible here,” a senior BJP leader from Hassan said. 

BJP’s G Devaraje Gowda, who lost against Revanna in Holenarsipura, last year, said some of his party colleagues may not support Prajwal even if there are instructions from the leadership to do so.

“We have no objection to H D Kumaraswamy or H D Deve Gowda contesting. We are against Prajwal as we may lose this seat due to the anti-incumbency he faces. Also, the case against his 2019 election is still pending before the Supreme Court,” Devaraje Gowda explained. 

Preetham Gowda, who is now BJP general secretary, said he will have to stand by the party’s decision. “But I can’t insist party workers to support a candidate who is not contesting from the party’s symbol,” he said. 

Revanna, Prajwal’s father, maintained that Yediyurappa and Vijayendra would “make everything alright.”