'Gowda will decide about Hassan seat'

Public Works Minister H D Revanna on Wednesday brushed aside opposition from a section of Congress leaders over his son Prajwal’s candidature for the Hassan Lok Sabha seat.

The local Congress cadre in Hassan, led by former minister A Manju, is up in arms over the regional party’s plan to field Prajwal from Hassan, which is currently represented by his grandfather H D Deve Gowda. The Hassan seat has been Deve Gowda’s fiefdom.

It may be noted that Deve Gowda had announced, in December last, that he had decided to vacate the Hassan seat for Prajwal. It is speculated that Gowda could contest from Bangalore North. WIth Prajwal in Hassan and Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil in Mandya, the third generation of Gowda’s family will enter electoral politics.

Manju, who is an aspirant for the Hassan ticket, has complained that the JD(S) cannot decide on fielding Prajwal as the two parties are yet to finalise sharing of seats. He has threatened that the local Congress cadre would not support Prajwal if he gets the ticket.

“Deve Gowda will finally decide who should contest from Hassan,” Revanna told reporters. “I’ve not asked for Prajwal to be given the ticket. Whatever the party decides will be final. I won’t talk about Manju. He’s an experienced person,” he said.

Revanna, however, defended the idea of Prajwal contesting from Hassan. “He could’ve won from the Belur assembly constituency in the last election. He has been working towards the party’s organisation for ten years now. I’m sure he’ll get suitable recognition for his work,” he said.

Rejecting reports that he met BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa, Revanna said the Congress-JD(S) coalition government is safe for the time being. “I’ve seen the almanacs of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Nothing will happen to this government until Ugadi. After that, I’ll look at the new almanac and then tell you,” he quipped.