Former Prime Minister and HD Deve Gowda, 92, made a last-ditch attempt to revive his political career by fielding his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy from Channapatna assembly constituency, but his efforts also did not bear fruit. This defeat affected the future of Janata Dal (Secular). ). Serious concerns have been raised in this regard.
This is the third defeat in five years for 36-year-old actor and politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy. After losing the Mandya Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and the Ramnagar Assembly seat in 2023, Nikhil lost to veteran Congress leader CP Yogeshwar by a margin of over 25,000 votes. This defeat in Channapatna occurred when the BJP refused to give Yogeshwar a ticket and he joined the Congress.
…but news of relief for Siddaramaiah
This electoral result was a relief for Congress. The Congress won all three by-elections held in Channapatna as well as in Sandur and Shiggaon. These results gave temporary relief to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is facing several challenges like the MUDA land allotment scam and allegations against the family. Siddaramaiah described these victories as the public reaction against the conspiracies of the BJP and the JDS. However, this relief may be temporary as the investigation into the allegations against him and his family is being carried out by the Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Important contribution by DK Shivkumar
The credit for the Congress victory in Channapatna is attributed to DK Shivkumar and his brother DK Suresh. Both have played a special role in uniting Yogeshwar from the BJP to the Congress and reducing Kumaraswamy’s influence. The move was a response to the role played by Kumaraswamy in the recent BJP-JDS alliance. It is noteworthy that this alliance not only sent Kumaraswamy to the Lok Sabha from Mandya but also made his brother-in-law Dr CN Manjunath win against DK Suresh by a huge margin.
Dissatisfaction in the BJP
There was discontent among state BJP leaders over Kumaraswamy becoming MP from Mandya making him a Union minister in the Modi government. Despite this, local BJP leaders were ignored in the allocation of tickets for the Channapatna by-election.
The Gowda family took the decision to make Nikhil Kumaraswamy the candidate from the Channapatna seat, which proved fatal for the BJP. HD Deve Gowda campaigned for seven days and participated in more than 25 meetings, irrespective of his age and health condition. He also appealed to the public to support Nikhil, but his appeal proved ineffective.
Deve Gowda’s other grandsons, Prajwal Revanna and Suraj Revanna, are already embroiled in separate cases and controversies, so Deve Gowda wanted to secure the future of JDS through Nikhil. But this attempt also failed.
Congress wins in Shiggaon and Sandur
In Shiggaon, the BJP fielded Bharat Bommai, son of former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, but he lost to Congress MP Yasir Pathan by 13,000 votes. The BJP had not lost this seat since 1994.
In Sandur, Congress’ Annapurna Tukaram defeated BJP’s Bangaru Hanumanthu by 9,000 votes. Tukaram vacated this seat after being elected from Balari in the Lok Sabha.
The internal struggle of the BJP
The continued failures of the Karnataka BJP have exposed the party’s weakness. Factionalism has become a big problem for the party. Soon after the election results, BJP leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal blamed the party’s state president BY Vijayendra (son of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa) for the defeat.
Senior leaders like Yatnal and Ramesh Jarkiholi protested against Vijayendra and organized separate meetings against the Congress government. It is very important for Karnataka BJP to maintain its strong hold in South India. After the defeat in these by-elections, there is a possibility of the BJP leadership making major changes in its state unit. The party will not only have to deal with internal factionalism but will also have to balance the growing power of the Congress and the impact of a possible alliance with the JDS.
