Bengaluru: Even as Janata Dal (S) patriarch, H.D. Deve Gowda queers the pitch for the Congress by asking the latter to give a dozen Lok Sabha seats in the state, a close aide of former CM, Siddaramaiah, H.M. Revanna on Wednesday asserted that he was making all preparations to contest from Bengaluru North Lok Sabha seat.
It is speculated that Mr Gowda is eyeing this seat after leaving his pocketborough, Hassan in favour of his grandson, Prajwal Revanna. After Hassan and Mandya Lok Sabha seats, Bengaluru North, has a high density of Vokkaliga voters.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Revanna expressed his aspiration to contest from Bengaluru North on a Congress ticket. "I enjoy good influence in the area. Last time I contested from Chennapattna only because Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked me to, but this time I have conveyed to the leadership that I would like to contest from Bengaluru North," he said. In response to a question, Mr Revanna added that whatever the party decides, he would abide by it. "But I am also an aspirant," he reiterated.
Mr Gowda has asked for at least 12 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state putting the coalition partner, Congress, under pressure. The JD(S) had won 2 of the 28 seats in 2014— Hassan and Mandya— but is now eyeing Mysuru, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura, Bengaluru North as well as trying to make inroads in the northern districts of Raichur, Vijayapura and Bidar. Going by the 2:1 formula for seat-sharing, the JD(S) would get 9-10 seats, hence Mr Gowda doesn't feel he's asking for too much.
