Janata Dal (Secular) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy, who announced candidates for 122 Assembly constituencies, in Bangalore on Friday, has not included any of the segments in Hassan district in the first list.
It appears that party leaders have been cautious and are weighing all possibilities before announcing candidates for constituencies in the district, where the party has a strong base.
It is said that Mr. Kumaraswamy avoided including constituencies in Hassan district in the first list as candidates for two constituencies — Hassan and Belur — are not yet finalised.
While three-time MLA H.S. Prakash wants to contest again on the party ticket from Hassan, another prominent leader K.M. Raje Gowda also wants to contest this time. Party’s national president H.D. Deve Gowda is expected to decide on the candidate.
Similarly, there have been confusion and conflicting reports regarding the party’s candidate for Belur. The former Rajya Sabha member H.K. Javare Gowda is confident of getting the party ticket to contest from Belur.
Recently, he suffered a jolt when Prajwal Revanna, grandson of Mr. Deve Gowda, openly opposed giving him ticket.
When The Hindu contacted Mr. Javare Gowda, who is also Hassan district unit JD(S) president, on Friday, he said names of candidates to contest from the segments in the district was yet to be finalised.
Probable candidates
There is no confusion, however, about the party’s probable candidates for other constituencies in the district. H.D. Revanna is expected to contest from Holenarsipur, K.M. Shivalinge Gowda - Arsikere, A.T. Ramaswamy - Arkalgud, H.K. Kumaraswamy - Sakleshpur and C.N. Balakrishna is expected to contest from Shravanabelgola.
