Bengaluru: A striking feature in the candidates list for the April 26 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka is the presence of members of Janata Dal (Secular)'s first family.
Former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda's son H D Kumaraswamy, son-in-law C N Manjunath and grandson Prajwal Revanna are all in the fray.
While state JD(S) chief and former Chief Minister H D Kumararaswamy is contesting from Mandya, Prajwal Revanna is seeking reelection from Hassan.
However, Manjunath, an eminent cardiologist, is contesting from Bangalore Rural on a BJP ticket, as per the arrangement between the alliance partners.
With the entry of cardiologist Manjunath into the poll arena, at least nine members of Gowda's immediate family are or have been in electoral politics.
Gowda is a Member of Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, while Kumaraswamy is an MLA from Channapatna, which comes under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency.
Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha had represented Ramanagara as MLA in the previous assembly, and Nikhil, who is the JD(S) youth wing leader, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mandya and 2023 assembly polls from Ramanagara.
Gowda's elder son and former Minister H D Revanna -- father of Prajwal -- is MLA from Holenarsipura, his wife Bhavani Revanna was a member of the Hassan Zilla Panchayat. Their other son, Suraj, is an MLC.
The Gowda family currently has its representation in all the four major houses of public representatives- Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council.
This will be for the second consecutive time in the Lok Sabha elections, when three members from Gowda's family are in the fray from constituencies of the old-Mysore region (south Karnataka), which is considered to be the party's stronghold, because of the dominance of the Vokkaliga community here, to which they belong to.
Gowda (Tumkur), Prajwal Revanna (Hassan), and Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil (Mandya) had contested the Lok Sabha poll in 2019, but only Revanna emerged victorious. In fact, he was among the only two candidates from the then ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance, who won; the other being D K Suresh of Congress from Bangalore Rural.
As part of the seat-sharing deal in this Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, the BJP would contest in 25 constituencies and the JD(S) in the remaining three -- Mandya, Hassan and Kolar. JD(S) has fielded M Mallesh Babu from Kolar.
In the 2023 assembly polls, three members of the Gowda family had contested - Kumaraswamy (Channapatna), H D Revanna (Holenarasipur), and Nikhil Kumaraswamy (Ramanagara). In the 2018 assembly polls, both Kumaraswamy and Revanna had won.
Kumaraswamy, who had then won from two seats - Ramanagara and Channapatna - vacated Ramanagara, which his wife Anita Kumaraswamy subsequently won in the bypolls.
According to some political observers, the perception in some quarters about JD(S) being too family-centric is one of its major drawbacks.
James Manor, University of London professor, who has been a keen observer of Karnataka's politics, during a webinar ahead of assembly polls last year had said, family-centred politics is causing discontent and leading to desertion. 'JD(S) suffers from over-centralisation and dictatorial leadership.'
However, Kumaraswamy has time and again defended family members contesting polls stating that , '....our family members will contest where we don't have a capable candidate, to protect the interest of our party and its workers.'
However, the JD(S)'s dynastic party image has always been used by its political opponents to target it.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president D K Shivakumar, had a dig at Gowda for fielding his son, grandson, and son-in-law, and asked 'Were there no other candidates (in JD(S))?'
'None of them is going to win...JD(S) is a party that has lost strength. If it is really strong, why did they make their son-in-law contest on a BJP ticket?' he said.
Some political analysts held the view that JD(S)' inability to grow beyond the Vokkaliga dominated old-Mysore region -- other than certain select pockets of north Karnataka -- is seen as among its other key drawbacks.
Speculations are already rife in JD(S) circles that Nikhil is most likely to be the party candidate from Channaptna assembly segment, in case Kumaraswamy wins in Mandya.
Ahead of assembly polls last year, differences in the Gowda family had come out in the open with H D Revanna's wife Bhavani wanting to contest from Hassan, but Kumaraswamy had opposed it and finally gave the ticket.
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No evidence Modi was awarded a BA degree by DU: AAP
Giving a fresh twist to the controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BA degree, the Aam Aadmi Party today alleged that a degree obtained by a namesake of him has been shown as as his own, which Arvind Kejriwal said amounted to outright \cheating\".
Kejriwal told a press conference that he can assert with \"full responsibility\" that Delhi University's records have no mention of \"Narendra Damodardas Modi\" and that one \"Narendra Kumar Mahavir Prasad Modi\" had taken admission in 1975.
The Delhi Chief Minister, who have been demanding that Modi's degrees be placed in public domain, said the issue was not whether the PM was \"10th pass or 12th pass\" but that he has furnished \"fake\" certificates and \"cheated\" the people of the country.
\"You don't need any degree to become PM. Talent is not necessarily a product of formal education. A person with less formal education can also be extremely talented, take for example Anna Hazare.
\"Firstly he lied in front of the country, secondly he lied in his affidavit and thirdly the degree that is emerging is forged. This is a case of cheating. If there are charges of cheating against a person like PM, then it is a grave matter,\" Kejriwal said.
Kerjriwal claimed that AAP volunteers have conducted \"searches\" across departments of DU, even in school of open learning, but did not come across Modi's enrollment form or degree.
\"I started saying with full responsibility that DU does not have his records only then. We came across one Modi who took admission in 1975 and is a resident of Alwar, His date of birth is 1958 whereas our PM's date of birth is 1950,\" the AAP chief said.
Meanwhile, the alleged \"Narendra Kumar Mahavir Prasad Modi\", allegedly a resident of Alwar, told reporters that he took admission in Shri Ram College of Commerce in 1975.
\"I am thankful to my father for giving me such a nice name as it is famous across the world now,\" he said.
AAP leaders Ashutsoh and Sanjay Singh have also filed an RTI with Delhi University seeking copy of Modi's application form, copy of enrollment form in Modi's handwriting, copy of relevant register, copy of his marksheet of each year, copy of convocation list of 1979 and announcement list during convocation.
In a separate presser, AAP leader Ashish Khetan said this was for the first time that any Prime Minister's academic qualification was under the scanner.
Khetan said Modi should be dealt with in a way similar to former AAP Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar was treated. Tomar was a Law Minister who was sacked over fake degree allegations and arrested.
\"Police should take him to Delhi University and ask him to show the hall in which he appeared for exams. Everyone is equal before law. They should also follow a similar procedure the way it was adopted in the case of Tomar,\" Khetan said.
\"Our investigations show that the degree is fake. This is a very serious crime and amounts to forgery,\" party leader Ashutosh said, adding that they also fear that the varsity records could be tampered with."
BJP and RSS told both Modi and Irani that graduation does not matter, that we can create them from DU...but you should know how to speak in English....that's all....
Danish, DU will also create some class mates to him...one of them is Arun Jaitly...LOL...
May be DU got that certificate from Bombay \Chori Bazar\""
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