The announcement by Union Steel and Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy‘s son comes less than two years before the next assembly elections and puts the focus on Ramanagara, a key constituency in the Vokkaliga-dominated region led by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
The Congress currently holds all four assembly seats in Bengaluru South district.
After interacting with JD(S) workers in Ramanagara, Nikhil, 38, said he had faith in the people of the constituency and would work to strengthen the party organisation. He said he wanted to see the JD(S) win all four assembly seats in the district.
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Nikhil’s announcement also comes as the JD(S) remains aligned with the BJP-led NDA. The two parties’ seat-sharing arrangements for the 2028 assembly elections are yet to be worked out. Such announcement on electoral contests usually follows a seat-sharing agreement.
In the 2023 assembly elections, the JD(S) contested alone, taking on both the BJP and Congress and won 19 seats in Karnataka, one of its weakest performances in the state.A victory in Ramanagara in 2028 would make Nikhil the fourth member of the Deve Gowda family to represent the constituency in the assembly. Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, his son HD Kumaraswamy and Anita Kumaraswamy have earlier represented the seat.
Nikhil has faced three successive electoral defeats since 2019. He lost the Mandya Lok Sabha election in 2019, the Ramanagara assembly election in 2023 and the Channapatna assembly bypoll in November 2024. The Channapatna contest emerged as a proxy war between Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy.
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Ramanagara is part of the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency, represented by BJP’s Dr CN Manjunath, a cardiologist and Nikhil’s uncle.
Nikhil’s return to Ramanagara comes as the JD(S) seeks to consolidate its position in the Vokkaliga belt. A win in 2028 would also revive his electoral prospects after successive defeats since 2019.
