HD Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna wants to resign from Karnataka's Hassan seat to make way for ex-PM

Karnataka’s Gowda family suffered two major setbacks on Thursday as Lok Sabha election results were declared. Former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda, who contested from Tumkur, and his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the party’s candidate from Mandya, both lost the polls. There was one silver lining though — Deve Gowda’s other grandson Prajwal Revanna, who won from party bastion Hassan. [caption id=“attachment_1478311” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda. AFP[/caption] However, Prajwal, son of Karnataka’s PWD minister HD Revanna, now wants to give up the seat for his grandfather. “To reinstate confidence of the JD(S) cadre, we have to fill the gap left by the defeat of HD Deve Gowda. Therefore, I have decided to tender my resignation. I want him to be victorious once again from Hassan,”  Prajwal told reporters at a press conference. Deve Gowda had moved from Hassan to Tumkur for the Lok Sabha elections for his grandson, but he was defeated by the BJP’s GS Basavaraj by a narrow margin of 13,339 votes. The 86-year-old former prime minister is now likely to retire from electoral politics altogether. At the press conference, Prajwal emphasised that it was his personal decision to resign from Hassan constituency as he believed Deve Gowda’s expertise was needed in Parliament. Neither Deve Gowda nor the JD(S) have accepted the move yet. Prajwal said he will meet his grandfather soon to convey his decision. The BJP trounced the ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 25 of the state’s 28 seats, leaving the Congress and JD(S) with one seat each. Follow LIVE updates on the Lok Sabha election results here