<p>Mysuru: Karnataka BJP general secretary and former Hassan MLA Preetham J Gowda may join the Congress under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, according to the former’s close associates.</p><p>Preetham, one of the young faces in the BJP, is gradually withdrawing from the party as he "does not see any future for himself" in the BJP, under the prevailing circumstances. Of late, he has not been seen much during BJP events and on BJP platforms, sources said.</p><p><strong>Discontent</strong></p><p>Preetham is not happy with the BJP-JD(S) coalition as he has fought against the clan of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda since the beginning of his political career in Hassan, sources said.</p>.Karnataka Congress legislature party meet: Gag order on lawmakers amid truce call.<p>"Till the last election, in 2023, the Congress used to field a reluctant candidate. In 2023, Congress candidate Banavase Rangaswamy hardly visited the segment, to seek votes."</p><p><strong>Revival</strong></p><p>Both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Dy CM Shivakumar are keen on reviving the fortunes of the Congress in Hassan, deemed to be JD(S) bastion till recently. In 2023, Siddaramaiah effected the defection of K M Shivalingegowda from the JD(S) in Arsikere segment. The CM-Dy CM duo managed to register a long-pending victory for the Congress in the Hassan Lok Sabha segment in 2024. Now, if Shivakumar can engineer the induction of Preetham into the Congress, he could be a reliable candidate in the Hassan Assembly constituency. He is young and can play a long innings, said a senior Congress leader.</p><p>Besides, the whole family of former minister H D Revanna of the JD(S) – including his wife Bhavani, a former ZP member; elder son Suraj, MLC; and younger son Prajwal, ex-MP - who had a strong hold on Hassan district - are involved in legal issues in various cases. "Thus, the time is ripe for the revival of the Congress." The BJP does not have a dependable leader in Hassan district, points out the Congress leader.</p><p>In December last year, the Congress planned a ‘Siddaramaiah Swabhimanigala Samavesha’ in Hassan, as a show of strength. Later, the convention was renamed as 'Jana Kalyana Samavesha' and nearly one lakh people attended it, giving a boost to the party, the Congress leader said.</p><p>It may be noted that the Congress has almost lost ground in Hassan Assembly segment. Its votes had reduced to 4,305 (Banavase Rangaswamy), while the fight was between Swaroop Prakash of JD(S) (85,176) and Preetham (77,322) of BJP in the 2023 election. The last time the segment had a Congress MLA was in 1989 (K H Hamumegowda), 36 years ago.</p><p>However, the Congress got a lead of over 10,000 votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, from Hassan Assembly segment. The Congress supporters used to vote for the JD(S) in the Hassan segment as they did not have a proper candidate. </p>
<p>Mysuru: Karnataka BJP general secretary and former Hassan MLA Preetham J Gowda may join the Congress under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, according to the former’s close associates.</p><p>Preetham, one of the young faces in the BJP, is gradually withdrawing from the party as he "does not see any future for himself" in the BJP, under the prevailing circumstances. Of late, he has not been seen much during BJP events and on BJP platforms, sources said.</p><p><strong>Discontent</strong></p><p>Preetham is not happy with the BJP-JD(S) coalition as he has fought against the clan of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda since the beginning of his political career in Hassan, sources said.</p>.Karnataka Congress legislature party meet: Gag order on lawmakers amid truce call.<p>"Till the last election, in 2023, the Congress used to field a reluctant candidate. In 2023, Congress candidate Banavase Rangaswamy hardly visited the segment, to seek votes."</p><p><strong>Revival</strong></p><p>Both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Dy CM Shivakumar are keen on reviving the fortunes of the Congress in Hassan, deemed to be JD(S) bastion till recently. In 2023, Siddaramaiah effected the defection of K M Shivalingegowda from the JD(S) in Arsikere segment. The CM-Dy CM duo managed to register a long-pending victory for the Congress in the Hassan Lok Sabha segment in 2024. Now, if Shivakumar can engineer the induction of Preetham into the Congress, he could be a reliable candidate in the Hassan Assembly constituency. He is young and can play a long innings, said a senior Congress leader.</p><p>Besides, the whole family of former minister H D Revanna of the JD(S) – including his wife Bhavani, a former ZP member; elder son Suraj, MLC; and younger son Prajwal, ex-MP - who had a strong hold on Hassan district - are involved in legal issues in various cases. "Thus, the time is ripe for the revival of the Congress." The BJP does not have a dependable leader in Hassan district, points out the Congress leader.</p><p>In December last year, the Congress planned a ‘Siddaramaiah Swabhimanigala Samavesha’ in Hassan, as a show of strength. Later, the convention was renamed as 'Jana Kalyana Samavesha' and nearly one lakh people attended it, giving a boost to the party, the Congress leader said.</p><p>It may be noted that the Congress has almost lost ground in Hassan Assembly segment. Its votes had reduced to 4,305 (Banavase Rangaswamy), while the fight was between Swaroop Prakash of JD(S) (85,176) and Preetham (77,322) of BJP in the 2023 election. The last time the segment had a Congress MLA was in 1989 (K H Hamumegowda), 36 years ago.</p><p>However, the Congress got a lead of over 10,000 votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, from Hassan Assembly segment. The Congress supporters used to vote for the JD(S) in the Hassan segment as they did not have a proper candidate. </p>