BENGALURU: State Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Kumaraswamy sprang a surprise on Saturday, announcing that only his elder sibling, H D Revanna, and himself will contest elections to the Assembly in 2018, ending speculation about the entry of Bhavani Revanna, Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna into electoral politics.
His statement also tantamounts to his wife, Anita Kumaraswamy, staying away from Assembly polls in 2018. He, however, told the media that at this juncture, it would be difficult to state who from his family would contest Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
Gopalaiah back in JD(S)
Meanwhile, in a surprise move, Mr K. Gopalaiah, one of the eight legislators who were suspended from the party for cross-voting during, decided to return to Janata Dal (Secular). On Saturday he told the media that he was groomed under the leadership of Mr Deve Gowda and Mr Kumaraswamy, but committed a major blunder during elections to Rajya Sabha and the Council.
“My voters want me to remain in JD(S) as it has given everything to me. Henceforth, I will not do anything which is against the interests of the party and leaders,” he added.
Mr Deve Gowda said that he would try to woo friends from the erstwhile Janata Parivar to strengthen the party. “I am ready to apologize to any leader if I have made a mistake. My aim is to win at least 120 seats in the next Assembly elections to form our government. I am not going to destabilize the government headed by Siddaramaiah,” he added.
