Hassan: Hassan is a constituency which inevitably draws the attention of the nation with former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda regularly in the fray as a Janata Dal(S) nominee. Going by previous election results, the fight has always been between Congress and JDS in this constituency.
However, things look different this time as the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded former minister and two-time Mysore Member of Parliament C.H. Vijayshankar to make it a triangular contest. A. Manju is the Congress nominee.
The constituency has seen certain changes since its formation in 1952. It was Chikmagalur-Hassan parliamentary constituency prior to the formation of Chikmagalur seat in 1962 and Hassan then got its separate identity. After delimitation of Lok Sabha seats in 2008, seven assembly constituencies of Hassan and Kadur from neighbouring Chikmagalur constitute Hassan parliamentary seat.
The entry of Deve Gowda into the Lok Sabha fray in 1991 led to the decline of the Congress in Hassan. Earlier, Congress nominees had won in 1952, 1957, 1962, 71, 74, 80, 84 and 89. In 1991, Deve Gowda contested as a Samajawadi Janata Party nominee and won the seat. Since then, Janata Parivar candidates have won except in 1999 when Deve Gowda suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of his bête noire G Puttaswamy Gowda of Congress.
However, Deve Gowda came back strongly in 2004 and won the seat and was re-elected in 2009.
The success of Deve Gowda is attributed the support he enjoys among Vokkaligas who form the major segment in the seat. While the Congress blames its defeats on internal squabbles among its leaders, BJP leaders say that the party has not consolidated its position even though it had once won four assembly seats in the district.
Though caste calculations hold the key to success in the poll, agrarian problems such as the withering coconut plantations in Arasikere, Kadur and Channarayapatna taluks and the elephant menace in Sakleshpur which destroys crops, are likely to come up during the poll campaign.
Congress leaders have focused on the “lapses” of Deve Gowda during their campaign to win over voters while JDS leaders believe that their candidate is hard to beat considering his work and popularity among the masses. For BJP, Vijayshankar is seen as a ray of hope.
