Deve Gowda appoints grandson Prajwal Revanna as general secretary of JD(S)

BENGALURU: It's the turn of a Gen Y member of Mr H D Deve Gowda's family to occupy a key post in the state unit of JD (S)!

Prajwal Revanna, 27, who embarrassed the patriarch and other top leaders of the party recently with his statement about "suitcase culture" in JD (S), has been accommodated in the party's hierarchy as general secretary though he was originally groomed to contest from Mr Gowda's home turf, Hassan, in Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The move, according to sources in the party, would end the rift within the family and facilitate state unit president H D Kumaraswamy's wife, Mrs Anitha Kumaraswamy, to contest next year's Assembly polls from Channapatna constituency. Sources said in recent months, tension was palpable in the family with both Mrs Anitha Kumaraswamy and Mr Prajwal Revanna expressing their desire to contest Assembly elections. Mr Gowda, however, tried his best to convince both of them that it would be embarrassing for the party to field so many members of his family.

Sources said with Monday's move, Mr Gowda would ensure Prajwal would work for the party and wait in the wings till Lok Sabha elections to step into the shoes of his grandfather. His mother, Mrs Bhavani who also nursed ambitions of contesting Assembly polls, has been placated following her election the Zilla Panchayat in Hassan. In order to set the house in order, Mr Gowda reportedly held a closed-door meeting with his sons Mr Revanna and Mr Kumaraswamy on Sunday and discussed a formula to keep Mr Prajwal busy with party work till 2019, and allow Anitha Kumaraswamy to contest the Assembly polls. He reportedly told his sons that the party's prospects would be dented in case the tension was not defused with a new formula and decided to appoint Prajwal as general secretary.