Prajwal Revanna fails, but Gowdas retain their Vokkaliga base in Karnataka

BENGALURU: In what can be considered retention of Vokkaliga support despite all odds, former PM HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal(S) won two of three Lok Sabha seats it contested in alliance with BJP.
JD(S) state chief HD Kumaraswamy defeated Congress' Venkataramange Gowda from Mandya by 2.8 lakh votes, avenging his son's defeat in 2019. Party candidate from Kolar reserved seat, Mallesh Babu, won with a margin of 1.27 lakh votes.
Gowda's son-in-law and noted cardiologist CN Manjunath, fighting on a BJP ticket, defeated DK Suresh, brother of deputy CM DK Shivakumar in his stronghold of Bengaluru Rural, by a massive 2.7 lakh votes. "When Gowdas, especially Deve Gowda, are cornered politically, the Vokkaliga community supported them. This time also, they did the same," said a JD(S) functionary. The victories are likely to boost morale of the party hit by its drubbing in last year's assembly elections, Prajwal Revanna's alleged sex scandal, and efforts by Congress to split the party, a source said.
Meanwhile, Prajwal, jailed in sex scandal case, failed to retain the family's bastion of Hassan after three decades. Deve Gowda had sacrificed the seat for Prajwal in 2019. Party sources claimed Prajwal too would have won if local BJP leaders supported him. "Our party did ensure transfer of our votes to BJP in seats like Tumkur, Chikkaballapur and Mysuru. But in Hassan, they did not do so," said a JD(S) source.