Nikhil vows JD(S) overhaul, says party needs strategy

Undeterred by his defeat on debut in the Mandya Lok Sabha segment, JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda’s grandson Nikhil is aspiring to head the party’s youth wing and has vowed to revamp the ailing regional party.

Incumbent youth wing chief, former legislator Madhu Bangarappa may be elevated in order to accommodate Nikhil in the party’s organisation, given that Gowda’s other grandson Prajwal, who also made his political debut, has been elected Hassan MP.

“This is a huge responsibility and one hell of a task. This was raised in the last JD(S) legislature party meeting where some legislators pitched my name and some Prajwal’s for the post. This call should be taken by the JD(S) supremo and no one else. But I’m ready to do anything for my party if I’m considered as someone who can take the party to the next level,” Nikhil told DH.

The 31-year-old son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is preparing himself for a bigger role in the party which, he said, needs an image makeover.

“We’ve to start rethinking on where we’re going wrong and where we’ve to set our terms right. This is where I’ll be working,” he said.

“Undoubtedly, the JD(S) is a cadre-based party, but politically it is not strategising things properly,” he said, referring to the party’s poor performance in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

A “big strategist” will be brought into the party soon, he said.

“I agree with the perception that the JD(S) is restricted to certain districts. We’ve a lot of scope to expand in places like Vijayapura, Chitradurga, Raichur and Kalaburagi where we’ve good openings,” he said.

Nikhil, who started off as an actor, said cinema was his passion whereas politics was “pure responsibility”. He is all set to move into Mandya and start farming. “I want to pick up a farmhouse and I’ll finalise a land in a week or two. I want to do farming myself and start meeting people,” he said.

But the defeat was hurtful, he said. He lost to BJP-backed independent Sumalatha. “What hasn’t Deve Gowda done to Mandya, especially on Cauvery? What hasn’t my father done to help farmers? There are so many issues where we’ve been there with them the whole of our lives,” he rued, while adding that the election was “a big learning process”.

Nikhil had little to say on what he made of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The whole world has accepted Mr Modi. I’d probably accept him... for now.”