Second electoral defeat for Deve Gowda's kin in four months

JD-S president and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda's daughter-in-law Anita Kumaraswamy Saturday suffered her second poll defeat within four months, that too in the area considered the party's stronghold.

Anita, married to Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) state chief and former chief minister H. D. Kumaraswamy, Saturday lost to D. K. Suresh of the ruling Congress in Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency for which bypoll was held along with Mandya seat on Aug 21.

In the May 5 assembly election, she was defeated in Channapatna, which is part of Bangalore Rural constituency, by C. P. Yogeeshwara of Samajwadi Party. Channapatna is about 60 kms from Bangalore.

Her Saturday's loss is a double whammy for the Gowda family whose word is the final in JD-S, which is ridiculed by other political parties as "thande-makkala paksha (father and sons party)".

The Bangalore Rural seat was held by her husband. Kumaraswamy had won the seat in 2009 by around 130,000 votes, almost the same margin by which Anita lost the seat Saturday.

He quit the seat on getting elected to Karnataka assembly in the May 5 elections from Ramanagaram constituency, which is also part of Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat.

Anita is a businesswoman. This was her third election.

She had won a bypoll to Karnataka assembly in December 2008 from Madhugiri in Tumkur district, about 100 kms from here.

She was shifted to Channapatna for the May 5 assembly poll as Kumaraswamy was confident that she would win from there as he was contesting from the neighbouring Ramanagaram constituency.

With Gowda family's calculations going wrong twice within four months, a shocked Kumaraswamy said he would quit as JD-S state chief and also as leader of the opposition in the assembly.

Fielding Anita again for a poll so soon after she had lost one had evoked derisive comments from the Congress which went to town that its description of JD-S as a "family affair" was proven beyond doubt.

Gowda had laboured hard to defend the decision telling campaign meetings that he had fielded Anita not because she was his daughter-in-law but because JD-S workers wanted her to contest.

He had tried to hit back at the Congress saying that it is a "mother and son party". He had also accused the Congress of indulging in "family politics" as the Suresh is the brother of Congress legislator and former minister D.K. Suresh Kumar.