Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on Monday appointed his grandson Prajwal Revanna, son of MLA H.D. Revanna, as the general secretary of the State JD(S). This marks the entry of the family’s third generation into politics.
This is a major push for the political ambitions of Mr. Prajwal, who has been waiting in the wings to enter electoral politics. The appointment is seen as a precursor to encourage a bigger role for Mr. Prajwal ahead of the State Assembly elections.
The party is likely to field Mr. Prajwal, who is learnt to be keen to contest from Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency in Bengaluru. His recent criticisms against the party leadership over the distribution of tickets had embarrassed the Gowda family.
With this appointment, three members of the Gowda family is holding party posts. While Mr. Deve Gowda is the national president of the party, his son H.D. Kumaraswamy is the State president. The Congress and BJP have been criticising the JD(S) as “a family party” headed by Mr. Deve Gowda.
Interestingly, Mr. Deve Gowda has repeatedly maintained that only two members of his family — Mr. Revanna and Mr. Kumaraswamy — will contest the polls. However, both Mr. Prajwal and Mr. Kumaraswamy’s wife, Anitha Kumaraswamy, have been expressing interest in contesting polls.
