Mysore: With former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy dismissing reports that Bhavani Revanna, wife of former minister H.D. Revanna, would be fielded from Mandya parliamentary constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, speculation is rife that the party may field actress turned politician Rakshita from the Vokkaliga bastion.
Mandya had always been a stronghold of the JD(S) till recently when well known Kannada actress and Congress party candidate Ramya, in her electoral debut, defeated the JD(S) nominee by a huge margin.
Smarting from an embarassing loss, the JD(S) wants to make sure that it puts up the right candidate in 2014.
The party will also have to find a strong contender for the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat which its candidate, Cheluvarayaswamy, had won in the 2009 parliament polls.
The seat was wrested by the Congress along with Mandya earlier this year with its candidate D.K. Suresh defeating Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita Kumaraswamy by a huge margin.
With Kumaraswamy disclosing on Sunday that Rakshita was keen on contesting from the seat, Mandya could well witness a battle of Sandalwood stars.
Meanwhile, it is reported that JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda and his wife Chennamma would like to see Bhavani Revanna enter the fray, Kumaraswamy’s reservations notwithstanding.
Mandya:?Rakshita to JD(S) raksha?
S.V. Krishna Chaitanya| DC
Mysore: Former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy has dismissed speculation abut the fielding of Bhavani Revanna, wife of former minister H.D. Revanna, from the Mandya parliamentary constituency in forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
"No member of our family will be contesting the polls. The rumours are being spread by people out of love and affection. Bhavani Revanna will not be contesting from Mandya, there is no such proposal under consideration. There are several able leaders in Mandya, who are aspiring to contest. Even actor-turned-politician Rakshita has expressed her interest in contesting from Mandya. The party will take a call after collecting the opinion of people and local leaders", Kumaraswamy said in Mandya on Sunday.
Sources say former PM H.D. Deve Gowda, his wife Chennamma and Bhavani's husband H.D. Revanna are said to be keen on fielding Bhavani from Mandya. However, Kumaraswamy rubbished all such rumours.
Meanwhile, the former CM indirectly expressed remorse for striking an electoral deal with the BJP during the last by-polls to Mandya and Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha seats, which the party lost miserably to Congress.
"The JD(S) tasted defeat in Mandya and Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha by-polls as the BJP did not field its candidates. We did not ask the BJP for support. However, people saw it as a secret alliance and voted against us. This time we won't give any room for such speculation. The JD(S) will wrest both the seats from the Congress", he explained.
During the parliamentary by-polls held earler this year, BJP withdrew its candidates from Mandya and Bengaluru Rural LS seats. In a quid pro quo, JD(S) did not field candidates in the Legislative Council polls from Dharwad, Chitradurga and Mysore Local Authorities constituencies, apparently to favour the BJP.
The JDS was coy about the "understanding" and refused to publicly acknowledge that it has entered into an electoral alliance with the BJP, which however admitted that the former had mooted such a proposal. At the end, the strategy backfired and both parties suffered miserable defeats in the polls.
