BENGALURU: Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday announced his resignation from the post of president of the Janata Dal (Secular) youth wing following his defeat in the recently concluded Assembly polls from the Ramanagara Assembly seat. The Karnataka Assembly elections were held on May 10 and results were announced on May 13.
It is said he submitted his resignation to the JD(S) state president C M Ibrahim, who himself has submitted his resignation as JD(S) state president to the party patriarch H D Deve Gowda.
Nikhil lost to Congress candidate H A Iqbal Hussain by 10,715 votes while the BJP candidate Gautham Gowda secured 12,912 votes, as per the Election Commission of India.
The defeat came as a surprise as the Ramanagara seat used to be a stronghold of the Kumaraswamy family. In the past, the Ramanagara seat was represented by H D Deve Gowda in 1994 and when he became the Chief Minister, Ramanagara was represented by H D Kumaraswamy who won in 2004, 2008, 2013 and 2018 Assembly elections.
Nikhil’s mother Anita Kumaraswamy also had represented the Ramanagara seat previously after winning it during the 2018 bypolls. Earlier, Nikhil had contested Mandya’s seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, but lost to BJP-backed Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh.
As per the Election Commission of India, Congress registered an emphatic win in the Karnataka Assembly polls winning 135 seats. The BJP, which was in power, was reduced to 66 seats and JD(S) won 19 seats. (ANI)