HD Deve Gowda’s three-decade parliamentary career appears to be coming to an end, after the BJP on Sunday did not re-nominate the former prime minister for the Rajya Sabha elections, effectively closing his only realistic route back to Parliament. By selecting M Nagaraja for the only winnable Rajya Sabha seat in Karnataka, the BJP has ended speculation that Gowda, whose current term ends later this month, will be fielded as the candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The announcement immediately became a flashpoint in Karnataka politics, as it exposed tensions around the BJP’s partnership with the Janata Dal (Secular), the party founded and led by Gowda.
Congress leaders portrayed the decision as a rejection by the veteran leader of his regional party’s alliance with the BJP less than three years ago. They argued that the refusal to accommodate Gowda had implications beyond the routine candidate selection process.
“The BJP and NDA have insulted the people of Karnataka. No one expected them to betray in this way after getting the support of JD(S) and Deve Gowda to pass various bills in Parliament. People will punish the BJP in the coming days,” Karnataka Congress president BK Hariprasad said.
Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress leader in charge of party affairs in Karnataka, described the development as the latest example of what he described as unequal treatment of the BJP ally.
“At midnight, the BJP rejected the Rajya Sabha nomination of former chief minister HD Deve Gowda, and decided to choose the state vice president in charge of building construction of the district, M Nagaraja, over the former chief minister,” Surjewala wrote on X.
“The constant humiliation inflicted on the BJP and its leadership and their repeated acceptance by HD Kumaraswamy of simply clinging to a ministerial seat at all costs is absolutely astonishing and astonishing. Moreover, accepting this insult is sheer extremism,” he said.
Surjewala also pointed to the support of the Congress that helped send Gowda to the Rajya Sabha after his defeat in the Lok Sabha in 2019, and pointed to the former prime minister’s previous public opposition to any alliance with the BJP.
“Now the BJP has rejected Gowda’s Rajya Sabha nomination and has chosen its leader instead of the former chief minister. This tells us that power at any cost, power at all costs, is the only slogan of the JD(S) in Karnataka now,” he said. State Congress president BK Hariprasad said the way the BJP denied Deve Gowda the Rajya Sabha seat is an insult not only to him or the regional party, but also to the people of Karnataka.
“The BJP and NDA have insulted the people of Karnataka. No one expected them to betray in this way after getting the support of JD(S) and Deve Gowda to pass various bills in Parliament. People will punish the BJP in the coming days,” he told reporters.
The BJP rejected suggestions that Gowda had been bypassed after internal deliberations. Vijayendra, the party’s Karnataka state president, said no discussion was held on the former chief minister’s new Rajya Sabha term within the state unit.
“Deve Gowda has strengthened the NDA and supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is a great leader, and we have great respect for him. There have been no discussions on Deve Gowda’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha at the state unit level,” Vijayendra told reporters.
Instead, Nagaraja’s selection was seen as a tribute to years of organizational work. According to Vijayendra, the candidate emerged from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad before holding several positions in the BJP, including state vice president. He also served in the Karnataka Public Service Commission during the tenure of former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa.
Vijayendra admitted that former Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh had also figured in the discussions before the leadership settled on Nagaraja.
“We in the party have great respect for Sumalatha. The BJP supported her when she contested the Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate in 2019. With our support, she won by a huge margin, and we are proud of it. She later gave up the seat of HD Kumaraswamy, the JD(S) alliance partner, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. That cannot be denied,” he said.
He added: “Things did not end here, and the leadership will certainly consider her for a suitable position in the coming days.”
The Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for June 18 will fill four vacancies arising from the retirement of Gowda, BJP MLAs Irana Kadadi and Narayana Kurajappa, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Based on the current strength of the parties in the Karnataka Assembly, the Congress is in a position to secure three seats while the BJP can win one seat.
