Prajwal Revanna files nomination from Hassan, seat of grandfather Deve Gowda

It was around the auspicious time of 12:05 pm that Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, submitted his nomination papers as the JD(S) candidate from Hassan constituency in the Lok Sabha elections. 

 

The filing of the nominations was a busy day for the Revanna family including Prajwal's father and Karnataka PWD Minister HD Revanna. The family visited a number of temples beginning with the Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy temple in Holenarasipura. 

 

Prajwal, Revanna and Bhavani Revanna (Prajwal's mother and Zilla Parishad member), then visited the Raghavendraswamy temple and Anjaneya temple which are situated facing each other nearby. The family also visited the Eshwar temple at Haradanahalli and the Ranganatha Swamy temple at Mavinakere. 

 

It was here that Prajwal signed his nomination papers before embarking on a procession to the Deputy Commissioner's (DC) office where he handed over the papers at around 12:45 pm. 

 

Along with Deve Gowda and HD Revanna, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Congress MLC Gopalswamy were also present at the DC's office while the nomination papers were handed over. The procession was also witnessed by thousands of supporters of the party and Prajwal was showered with flowers all through the route,

 

The nomination also marked a 'passing of the torch' moment as incumbent MP Deve Gowda relinquished his position as the MP of the constituency. Deve Gowda had made the constituency his bastion by winning three elections in a row since 2004. He had earlier been elected from the constituency in 1991 and 1998 while he was defeated in 1999. 

 

The decision to hand the ticket to Prajwal was announced on March 13 in a public meeting attended by the family. News channels aired visuals of all three members of the family in tears during the ceremony. However, when Prajwal was questioned about dynasty politics, he retorted angrily by asking, "What about Shivamogga? Tell me who is contesting from there and then we will discuss," he told a reporter. 

 

Prajwal Revanna will contest against Congress rebel A Manju who joined the BJP recently. Manju contested and lost against Deve Gowda in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and is considered close to Siddaramaiah. Manju, who expected the Congress to pick him as the candidate from Hassan was unhappy when the seat was given to the JD(S) and Prajwal Revanna was preferred instead of Deve Gowda. He was earlier with the BJP before joining the Congress and rose to become a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government.