Bhavani wants to contest from Hassan; JDS patriarch Deve Gowda may decide

BENGALURU: A day after the Janata Dal (Secular) announced its list of 93 candidates for the next Assembly polls, troubles seem to have cropped up within the family with Bhavani Revanna, wife of H D Revanna, insisting that she should be given the ticket to contest from Hassan.

This perhaps explains why the party has not announced its candidates for Hassan district. Given the tricky situation, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has left the job of deciding the candidates to his father and party patriarch H D Deve Gowda.

To strengthen her case, Bhavani has claimed that as a zilla panchayat member, she has people connect and that there is pressure from the supporters too. After having worked for many years in the constituency, she was supposed to contest the previous election itself, but did not after the entry of elders. Moreover, Anitha Kumaraswamy is already a legislator and she too should be given a chance, Bhavani has insisted.

Claiming that she is the most suited to take on the BJP’s Preetam Gowda, Bhavani has pointed out that dynastic politics is present in other parties too and it should not become an excuse to deny her a ticket.

Her husband H D Revanna too seems to be backing her, stumping Kumaraswamy as Suraj Revanna, Prajwal Revanna and H D Revanna are already elected representatives. With Bhavani’s entry, the party will be stuck with the tag of being dynastic, is Kumaraswamy’s big worry. His wife Anitha Kumaraswamy has already announced that she will be giving up her Ramanagara seat for their son Nikhil.

Meanwhile, the party, which had announced Naganagouda Kandakur as its candidate for Gurumitkal constituency, on Tuesday decided to field his son Sharanagouda Kandakur and Naganagouda declined to contest and requested that the ticket be given to his son. The announcement was made by party state president C M Ibrahim on Tuesday.