KARNATAKA: IT’S ALL IN THE FAMILY
Parties are outdoing each other to give poll tickets to the kin of political heavyweights
With just over a month to go for the assembly elections in Karnataka, they are already lining up for a piece of the action—daughters, spouses and sons-in-law of politicians across the party spectrum could make this election a sort of ‘family affair’. Incumbent chief minister Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra, former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s son B.Y. Vijayendra, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna and former Union minister S.M. Krishna’s daughter Shambhavi are all very likely contenders. Ex-chief minister Veerappa Moily’s son Harsha Moily, however, has been forced to prematurely withdraw from contesting, following his controversial tweet alleging money power in the selection of candidates.
Although dynasts aren’t new to Karnataka’s politics, this is the first time that sons and daughters are in the mix in such huge numbers. Ajay Singh, son of another former chief minister, the late N. Dharam Singh, is a Congress candidate; two of ex-chief minister S. Bangarappa’s sons are contesting—Madhu Bangarappa as a Janata Dal (Secular) candidate and Kumar Bangarappa for the BJP; the late chief minister S.R. Bommai’s son Basavaraj Bommai, too, is a BJP nominee.
“Family politics is integral to Karnataka,” says N.L. Prakash, a Mysuru-based political analyst. “The BJP and JD(S) may hound the Congress for patronising dynasts, but they have proven that they are no better.”
Predictably, most political heavyweights have ready justifications for family tickets. Yeddyurappa wants his son Vijayendra to pose a ‘tough’ challenge to Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra in Varuna (Mysuru). Siddaramaiah, who’s moving to the neighbouring Chamundeshwari constituency, insists, “People will vote for him (Yathindra) for what he has done and envisioned for the constituency, and not because he is my son.”
Yathindra, though, is a relatively recent entrant to the state’s politics, emerging after the demise of his elder brother Rakesh in 2016. As in Varuna, the BJP is looking to make inroads into the Vokkaliga heartland of Old Mysuru, by fielding Krishna’s daughter in Mandya district.
SIDDARAMAIAH CLAIMS HIS SON WILL GET VOTES FOR HIS WORK, NOT FAMILY LINKS
The fact that dynasts have fared well in Karnataka’s politics earlier may have prompted more relatives of leaders to jump into the fray. Karnataka’s incumbent information technology and tourism minister Priyank Kharge, for instance, is the son of the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge. Others, including Prakash Khandre, D.S. Kashappanavar, Priya Krishna, B.Y. Raghavendra and S.C. Udasi, can all be counted among the ranks of Karnataka’s thriving dynasts.
As a regional party, the JD(S) expectedly has its share of relatives of leaders contesting the May 12 election. Their numbers have grown in the course of successive elections. Besides Gowda’s two sons H.D. Kumaraswamy (a former chief minister) and H.D. Revanna (a former minister), there’s talk this time that even Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha and Revanna’s son Prajwal could be fielded. It’s no secret that Revanna’s wife too has political aspirations.
But true to its reputation of ‘encouraging dynasties’, the Congress could end up with the biggest contingent of kin in the contest. Among others, home minister R. Ramalinga Reddy, former Union ministers C.K. Jaffer Sharief, K. Rahman Khan and K.H. Muniyappa are lobbying hard for tickets for their relatives.