Union Minister and former Chief Minister of Karnataka, DV Sadananda Gowda on Monday said that he will not shy away from contesting against former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda.
“I respect Deve Gowda but I am not afraid of him," the BJP leader told reporters as speciation is rife that the 93-year-old veteran is set to contest from Bengaluru North this time around.
"If my party decides that I must contest from Bengaluru North, then I will contest from there. Whatever it may be, BJP must win from the segment. I have great respect for Deve Gowda but I am not scared of him. It will be good if I contest against an elder in politics and if I win, that will be even better,” he added.
With party president BS Yeddyurappa suggesting that all sitting BJP MPs will contest from their current constituencies,
Bangalore North being home to a lot of Vokkaligas may very well see a battle royale between two tall leaders from the community. However, the Congress and JD(S) are yet to announce their final seat sharing arrangement nor has any major party in Karnataka made their candidate list public.
In 2014, BJP had fielded ex-CM Sadananda Gowda, who hails from Puttur in coastal Karnataka, in north Bengaluru. And with the Modi wave in full swing then, he went on to defeat his nearest rival from the Congress— C Narayana Swamy by a margin of more than two lakh votes.
Prior to this, the Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation had his electoral success limited to coastal Karnataka. He won the Lok Sabha polls from Udupi-Chikmagalur in 2009, and from the Mangalore seat in 2004. Even the two times he was an MLA, he had won from Puttur.
Deve Gowda who is an MP in his stronghold of Hassan is vacating the seat for his grandson - Prajwal Revanna, son of PWD minister HD Revanna.
While Mandya, another JD(S) stronghold in the Vokkaliga belt, was the initial choice this year for the six-time MP, it is learnt that he is leaving that also for his other grandson and film star Nikhil. Party insiders say Mandya will be a safe bet for political rookie Nikhil, who is the son of Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.
