Bengaluru, (Samajweekly) The ruling Congress in Karnataka has fielded children of six state cabinet ministers in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President, D.K. Shivakumar, has defended the move, stating that the entire political landscape of the country has changed, with family members or children of ministers and leaders being fielded in elections across all parties.
Karnataka’s Agricultural Marketing Minister Shivanand Patil’s daughter, Samyukta Patil, is contesting as a Congress candidate from the Bagalkot Lok Sabha constituency pitted against four-time MP and senior BJP leader P.C. Gaddigoudar.
Mrinal Hebbalkar, the son of Karnataka’s Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, is contesting as a Congress candidate from Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency against senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar.
Sunil Bose, the son of Karnataka’s Social Welfare Minister H.C. Mahadevappa, is contesting for the Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha consdtituency against BJP candidate S. Balaraj, a former MLA and close aide of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
Priyanka Jarkiholi, the daughter of Karnataka’s Public Works Department Minister Satish Jarkiholi, is contesting from the Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency pitted against senior BJP leader Annasaheb Jolle.
Sowmya Reddy, the daughter of Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, is contesting from the Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency against BJP’s Tejasvi Surya.
Sagar Khandre, the son of Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, has been fielded from the Bidar Lok Sabha constituency against BJP candidate and Union Minister of State Bhagwanth Khuba.
Mansoor Ali Khan, the son of former Union Minister K. Rahman Khan, is contesting from the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency against BJP candidate P.C. Mohan, a three-time MP.
Dynasty politics has long been synonymous with JD(S) in Karnataka, with former Chief Minister and State JD (S) President H.D. Kumaraswamy being the son of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.
Kumaraswamy is contesting as an NDA candidate from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, while Deve Gowda’s grandson, Prajwal Revanna, has filed a nomination from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency for the second time.
The BJP’s patronage of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s family has been a subject of debate both inside and outside the party. His son B.Y. Vijayendra has been appointed as State BJP President, while another son, B.Y. Raghavendra, is the BJP candidate from Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency.
Raghavendra has represented Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency in 2009, 2014, 2018 (by-election) and 2019 and is all set to file nomination for the fifth time. He is facing Geetha Shivarajkumar from the Congress, who is the sister of Karnataka Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa.
Annasaheb Jolle, the BJP candidate from Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency, is the husband of former Minister Shashikala Jolle. Annasaheb contested the state Assembly elections in 2018 from Chikkodi-Sadalga constituency but suffered a defeat. However, his wife Shashikala Jolle won from Nippani Assembly constituency and was inducted as a cabinet minister.
Annasaheb was later given a ticket from the Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency during the 2019 general election and won.
Gayathri Siddeshwar, the wife of former Union Minister G.M. Siddeshwar, was fielded from the Davangere Lok Sabha constituency after the latter faced resistance from the local BJP leadership.
Similarly, the Congress has fielded Prabha Mallikarjun, the wife of Karnataka Horticulture Minister S.S. Mallikarjun, from the Davangere Lok Sabha constituency. Her father-in-law Shamnur Shivashankarappa is a Congress MLA.
C.N. Manjunath, the son-in-law of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, has been nominated as the BJP candidate from the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP aims to counter the dominance of D.K. Shivakumar and his brother and Congress MP D.K. Suresh, in the region. Suresh is the Congress candidate from the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency.
Tejasvi Surya, the BJP’s candidate for the Bengaluru South Lok Sabha seat and BJP Yuva Morcha National President, is a close relative of Basavanagudi BJP MLA Ravi Subramanya. It remains to be seen whether the people of Karnataka will support dynasty politics.
