As we step into New Year, The New Indian Express looks at the netas who are likely to play important roles in state politics, both at party levels and in the government
BJP’S HOPE IN MANDYA IS A GOWDA
Disqualified JDS legislator-turned-BJP MLA KC Narayana Gowda is set to be inducted into the BS Yediyurappa cabinet. As the only BJP MLA from Mandya, he will be the party’s pointsperson in Mandya, so far considered a JDS and Congress bastion. BJP is likely to give Gowda an important portfolio, as it works towards expanding its footprint in the Vokkaliga heartland. It is yet to be seen how Gowda will use the opportunity to strengthen his leadership and help the party, as his victory in KR Pet was largely credited to work done by other party leaders.
CAMPUS KING’S GOT A LOT TO DO
Srinivas is the first Congress leader from Karnataka to be appointed president of the Indian Youth Congress. The young leader from Shivamogga is in the forefront of Congress agitations against the central government. He is working on taking the party to campuses. For now, he is mostly focused on Youth Congress activities at the national level.
FAMOUS DAD ASIDE, SOWMYA TREADS HER OWN PATH
Activist and environmentalist-turnedpolitician Sowmya Ramalinga Reddy is the only woman MLA from the state capital. The daughter of former Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy is emerging as a prominent youth voice of state Congress. Like her father, Sowmya has been doing her best to keep her hold on Jayanagar Assembly constituency in Bengaluru, and is expected to play a major role in the upcoming Bengaluru city corporation elections, which has around 100 seats reserved for women councillors. She is also general secretary of the All India Women Congress Committee. Apart from her good equation with the party high command, she has not identified with any of the factions in the state unit. With her clean image, she is trying to move beyond her father’s footprint.
YOUNG BLOOD RUNS DEEP IN RIZWAN
After two back-to-back electoral defeats, Rizwan Arshad finally arrived in Bengaluru after he won the recent Shivajinagar assembly bypoll in Bengaluru. The Congress MLC from Mysuru contested Lok Sabha elections twice from Bangalore Central -- in 2014 and 2019 -- and lost. The former Youth Congress president is said to have been handpicked by former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who is also from Mysuru. With former minister R Roshan Baig’s exit from the party, the Congress is likely to project Rizwan as its urban young face. Zameer Ahmed Khan, MLA from Chamarajpet assembly segment, is the other prominent minority face in the Congress. Unlike Rizwan, Zameer crossed over to the Congress from the JDS.
A LOT MAY REST ON PREETHAM’S SHOULDERS
One of the youngest MLAs, Preetham Gowda, is also the only BJP MLA from Hassan district - former Prime Minister and JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda’s home turf. Preetham’s victory in the Gowda bastion had surprised many in 2018. He is known for his organisational skills and had played an important role in the BJP’s victory from KR Pet. Preetham, 38, is expected to get more responsibility in the party in the coming days. The party credits him with getting many JDS and Congress supporters to switch to the BJP during enrolment drives. He is likely to play an important role in the BJP’s plan to expand its base in the Old Mysore region.
DITCHING THE ANTI-KANNADA TAG
Second-term BBMP councillor M Gowtham Kumar was recently elected the 53rd Mayor of Bengaluru. With the BBMP council term ending in 2020, Gowtham is the first BJP Mayor after the four-year-long Congress-JDS coalition. Representing the Jain community, he was depicted as ‘anti- Kannadiga’ in the beginning. Now, Gowtham has taken pro- Kannada initiatives, including implementing the rule where 60 per cent of a commercial name board must be in Kannada, which have been applauded by many. Since the BBMP election is expected to be held in the first half of 2020, Gowtham’s decisions and initiatives will give the BJP a boost in the upcoming elections.
TAKING THE SINGH NAME FORWARD
Taking his father former CM and late Dharam Singh’s legacy forward, Dr Ajay Singh is a second-time MLA from Jewargi constituency in Kalaburagi district. He and brother Vijay Singh played an important role in the party’s victory in Shivajinagar assembly constituency in the recent bypolls. Ajay, Vijay and a few other young party leaders worked out a campaign strategy for Rizwan Arshad, and focused on directly reaching out to voters, instead of big rallies. Ajay, a medical practitioner, is not an aggressive leader, but is among the young Congress netas likely to play important roles in the future.
JDS’ GRAND HOPE
Post the bypolls, the JDS has been going through a rather difficult phase, and is likely to head towards an existential crisis. Former PM Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna is one among the very few leaders in the regional party who is working to retain their base. Deve Gowda gave up his seat Hassan to his grandson, and took the risk of contesting from Tumakuru, where he lost to the BJP candidate in the 2019 LS polls. Many in the party hope he will play an important role in the party’s revival plans.
VICTORIOUS REBEL WITH A CAUSE
Like Sumalatha Ambareesh, Sharath Bache Gowda contested as an Independent and won against the ruling party candidate in the Hoskote byelection. Son of BJP MP from Chikkaballapur BN Bache Gowda, Sharath had turned down the government’s offer of taking up the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) chairman role, and instead, decided to contest from Hoskote. Sharath put his political career at risk, and won. The young leader was expelled from the BJP, but the buzz is, he is likely to return to the party fold.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
In 2018, a few weeks before the Assembly elections, the then- BJP CM candidate BS Yediyurappa announced that his son BY Vijayendra would not be contesting from Varuna constituency. This came as a surprise to many, as Vijayendra had started campaigning and was getting good response. However, the young leader kept working for the party and with other party leaders, eventually playing an important role in the KR Pete win. Thanks to Vijayendra’s organisational skills and consistent efforts to strengthen the party’s base in Old Mysore, the BJP is likely to give him more responsibilities. The young leader is said to have set the ambitious goal of emerging a strong Lingayat leader, like his father.