Ex-minister G T Devegowda drifting away from JD(S)?

Mysuru: Former minister G T Devegowda seems to be drifting away from the JD(S) while his son G D Harish Gowda holds on to the party.

A senior JD(S) leader said, “Ex-minister and also Chamundeshwari MLA Devegowda seems to be distancing himself from the party forum, even though his son and Hunsur MLA Harish Gowda participates in party events”.

“Devegowda, who had planned to join the Congress before the 2023 Assembly poll, at the behest of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, was retained in the JD(S), by party supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda. But, the denial of the post of JD(S) Legislative Party Leader in the Assembly seems to have irked Devegowda, who was not present when Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy met his party leaders in Mysuru, last week,” the leader added.

A BJP leader said, “At a time when the BJP-JD(S) coalition is planning a week-long ‘padayatra’ from Bengaluru to Mysuru, from Saturday, to protest against the involvement of Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA scam, Devegowda’s move assumes significance. It is because Devegowda has a good hold over JD(S) leaders and workers of Mysuru district, especially in Chamundeshwari, Varuna and Hunsur Assembly segments. Besides, he also has good influence over BJP leaders and workers in Mysuru district”.

Giant killer

Devegowda’s association with Siddaramaiah spans over 23 years, from 1983 up to 2006, when Siddaramaiah defected to the Congress.

"Devegowda remained in the JD(S), but joined the BJP in 2008 and unsuccessfully contested from Hunsur. In 2013, he returned to the JD(S). In 2018, Devegowda emerged as a giant killer by defeating Siddaramaiah, with a margin of 36,042 votes,” BJP leader Mahesh Raje Urs said.

He pointed out that Devegowda is in active politics since 1972, supporting then MLA K Puttaswamy. “Described as the 'Chanakya' of the old Mysuru region, Devegowda is looked upon as a person who can wrest any post in any local body, even under adverse circumstances. Even though he maintained low-profile for a long time, he was active in the cooperative movement”, he noted.

Elections

“In 1983, Devegowda was elected as a director of the Mysuru APMC. He was the president of the Karnataka Cooperative Federation for almost two decades. In the 1998 bypoll, he entered the Assembly from Hunsur on a Janata Dal ticket. He was elected from the same constituency in 2004 as a JD(S) candidate. A native Gungral Chatra, under Chamundeshwari constituency, he shifted to it in the 2013 poll, when he defeated ex-MLA M Sathyanarayana of the Congress,” Urs said.

A senior JD(S) leader recalled that Devegowda was unhappy with Kumaraswamy, when he preferred Sa Ra Mahesh over him, for Mysuru district in-charge minister’s post, in the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in 2018. “The rift continued till 2023. Thus Devegowda had held talks with Siddaramaiah to join the Congress. However Deve Gowda succeeded in holding him back. Devegowda’s move will become clear once the ‘padayatra’ approaches Mysuru by August 9,” he said.