'Son' rise: HDD's grandson to contest MLC polls

The Gowda family looks all set for one more ‘son’ rise.

Suraj Revanna, the grandson of JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, will file his papers for the upcoming Legislative Council election, likely on Friday.

Suraj will be the JD(S) candidate for the Hassan local authorities’ seat. This was announced by the JD(S) on social media.

This makes Suraj the 8th member from the Gowda family to enter politics and fourth from his father HD Revanna's household. Revanna is a former minister and the incumbent Holenarsipura MLA. Suraj's mother Bhavani was a member of the Hassan Zilla Panchayat. Suraj is a doctor, while his younger brother Prajwal represents Hassan in the Lok Sabha.

Deve Gowda, a former prime minister, is a Rajya Sabha member. Suraj's uncle HD Kumaraswamy is a former chief minister and Channapatna MLA. Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil is the JD(S) youth wing president who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mandya. Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha is the Ramanagara MLA.

A section of JD(S) leaders wanted the ticket for Bhavani, Suraj's mother.

If Suraj wins the December 10 Legislative Council polls, then the Gowda family will have a member in four houses of representatives: Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council.

Congress ticket to minister's aide?

The Congress is likely to field Cooperation Minister ST Somashekar's special officer Dinesh Gooligowda for the upcoming MLC polls from the Mandya local authorities' seat.

Dinesh is believed to have recently resigned from his post as the special officer. He comes from an agricultural family and hails from Mandya. He has been associated with Congress for a long time. Earlier, Dinesh worked with former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara and former chief minister SM Krishna. Apparently, Dinesh has the support of Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and KPCC president DK Shivakumar. He holds a masters degree in political science.