JD(S) struggles to find MP candidates as nepotism charge takes its toll

The Janata Dal’s (Secular) dream of having a cake walk in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, with the aid of its coalition partner, appears to have come to a naught. The Deve Gowda family-owned party is struggling to find worthy candidates even as the deadline to file nominations is just a day away.

In three of the eight constituencies JD(S) is to contest, the party is now looking to field Congress nominees on its ticket. The seats are Udupi-Chikmagalur, Bengaluru North, and Uttara Kannada. The party has been stretched thin as the compulsion to keep power within the family has driven good leaders out of the party.

“People who served the party for long were not given tickets. Mandya is a classic example. The incumbent MP has been serving the constituency for the last six months since the bypoll in 2018. The party has ignored him to make way for a family member (Nikhil Kumaraswamy),” noted Harish Ramaswamy, political analyst and professor of political science at Karnataka University. “Also, while everyone began to think that Kumaraswamy has emerged stronger by virtue of his Chief Minister-ship, he is found taking his father’s guidance on everything. Other tall leaders in the party are getting annoyed by this practice,” he added.

Past losses 

In Udupi-Chikmagalur, it is certain that the party will field Congress leader and former minister Pramod Madhwaraj as its candidate. While JD(S) did not field a candidate, in the 2009 election, in Udupi, it secured just 1.5 per cent of the total votes in the 2014 general election. Now, the party stands no chance of winning the seat as it lacks local leadership.

Madhwaraj, backed by the fishing community, has got the go-ahead from both the Congress and the JD(S). He is all set to take on incumbent BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje. Until the last election, former Congress candidate Jayaprakash Hegde gave the BJP a run for its money in the region. But his crossover to the saffron party in 2017, has left the Congress without noteworthy candidates.

Scotching speculations that he would contest the Bengaluru North seat, Deve Gowda is likely to test his fortunes in neighbouring constituency of Tumakuru. Now, the incumbent Congress MP Muddhanumegowda has turned a rebellion. He was threatened to would file the nomination on Monday, breaking the high command’s order, as he claims to have support of his party cadres. This new headache for the coalition partners will take time to die down.

In Bengaluru North, the party reportedly tried to convince young Congress Vokkaliga leader and law and parliamentary affairs minister Krishna Byre Gowda to contest the Bengaluru-North. But the minister later denied the report. Now, Congress leader BL Shankar’s name is doing rounds for the party’s cadidature.

Byre Gowda contested against BJP’s Ananth Kumar in 2009 from Bengaluru South, and came close to defeating him. He, however, lost by a margin of 37,000 votes. In 2014, Sadananda Gowda polled 53% of the total votes in Bangalore North constituency, while JD(S) and Congress combine secured 43% vote share.

Shifting bases

In Uttara Kannada, the Congress had the upper hand to take on BJP MP Ananth Kumar Hegde, who is known for his hardline Hindutva ideology. Two Congress veterans Margaret Alva and RV Deshpande were hoping their sons would get tickets. But with Congress ceding the ticket to the JD(S), their hopes have fallen through. Though JD(S) did not contest in 2014, it secured a vote share of 6% in the constituency in the 2009 general election.

Prashant Deshpande, revenue minister RV Deshpande’s son, refused to comment on the development. Margaret Alva’s son, Nivedith Alva, denied reports that JD(S) approached him. “The central leadership has given the ticket to JD(S). Now it is for them to choose a be-fitting candidate. I am not in the fray,” Alva told The Federal.

Now, former Congress MLA, Anand Asnotikar, who shifted to BJP before joining JD(S), is another contender for the party ticket in the Uttara Kannada region. Though the list is not officially announced, Asnotikar has begun his campaign as a party contestant.

Also, JD(S) recently lost its general secretary Danish Ali, who moved to the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) to contest in Uttar Pradesh. While Kumaraswamy tried to play down the development, party cadres consider it a big loss.