Morale booster for JD(S) as it wins 2 out of 3 contested seats in Karnataka

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The win in two out of three seats it contested in the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka has come as a morale booster to the JD(S), smarting under the sex scandal allegedly involving its MP Prajwal Revanna that rocked the party.

Party state President and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy won from Mandya while his nephew and sitting MP Revanna, who is facing probe on charges of sexually abusing several women, failed to retain his Hassan seat.

The party candidate M Mallesh Babu won from Kolar. JD(S) appeared to take the 33-year-old Revanna's electoral loss in its stride. On his defeat, Kumaraswamy told reporters here: "It was known to all.

Certain issues cannot be discussed openly. We will try to rectify things where we have lost". Revanna is currently in the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the cases, after remaining at large abroad for over a month.

Though the cases of sexual abuse came to light after a number of pendrives allegedly containing explicit videos involving Prajwal were reportedly circulated in Hassan, just days ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26, it by and large became a major scandal after voting in the segment was over and government ordered the probe on April 27.

Prajwal's father and Gowda's son H D Revanna, who is currently out on bail, is also facing charges of sexually abusing a woman and also charges of kidnapping, causing a huge embarrassment for JD(S) and making things worse for its leadership.

This Lok Sabha election was considered to be crucial for JD(S), after it registered its worst performance in over two decades, in the 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka. The regional party had witnessed a steep fall in its tally in the Assembly polls -- from 37 in 2018 to 19 (out of total 224 seats) in 2023.

Its vote share has dipped from 18.36 per cent in 2018 to 13.3 per cent in 2023. The party's worst-ever performance was in 1999 when it got 10.42 per cent votes following the split of the Janata Dal into JD(S) and JD(U).

So, in what is largely being seen as an alliance of compulsion, JD(S) with a hope to better its prospects forged an alliance with BJP in the backdrop of the ruling Congress' alleged attempts to weaken the party by wooing its leaders and legislators, and the strategy seems to have paid off, as it won two out of the three seats it contested.