With a probable family dispute brewing over the issue of the Janata Dal (Secular) ticket for the Hassan Assembly constituency, denting the party’s image, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday attempted to put an end to the issue by categorically stating that “the need for Bhavani Revanna [his sister-in-law and wife of the former Minister H.D. Revanna] to contest from Hassan has not arisen”.
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A day after he told an audience at Lingsugur constituency that an “ordinary party worker” is enough to defeat the incumbent BJP legislator in Hassan, Mr. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday said, “If it was a necessity for the party, I would have personally asked Ms. Bhavani to contest from Hassan. However, that necessity is not there since we have a capable candidate already.” He argued that his wife, Anitha Kumaraswamy, became the party candidate in Madhugiri during the 2008 bypoll because the current JD(S) legislator Veerbhadraiah, then government official, could not contest as his voluntary retirement had not been accepted.
A former member of the Hassan Zilla Panchayat, Ms. Bhavani had unilaterally announced at a public event near Salagame in Hassan that she had been chosen by JD(S) leaders to contest even though the party is yet to release its list of candidates for Hassan district. H.P. Swaroop, former vice-president of the Hassan Zilla Panchayat and son of the former JD(S) legislator late H.S. Prakash is a serious contender for Hassan constituency.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said on Wednesday, “There is no question of a family dispute. For me, lakhs of party workers are my family and I am responsible for them. I will solve the problem without any dispute in the family.”