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HD Deve Gowda’s three-decade-long parliamentary career appears to be drawing to a close, after the BJP on Sunday did not renominate the former prime minister to the Rajya Sabha elections, effectively shutting off his only realistic route back to the Parliament. By selecting M Nagaraja for Karnataka’s lone winnable Rajya Sabha seat, the BJP ended speculation that Gowda, whose current tenure expires later this month, would be fielded as a nominee of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The announcement immediately became a flashpoint in Karnataka politics, exposing 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 rebuff to a veteran leader whose regional party aligned with the BJP less than three years ago. They argued that the refusal to accommodate Gowda carried implications beyond a routine candidate selection exercise.
“The BJP and the NDA have insulted the people of Karnataka. No one expected them to betray like this after taking the support of JD(S) and Deve Gowda for passing various Bills in Parliament. People will punish the BJP in the days ahead,” Karnataka Congress president B.K. Hariprasad said.
Randeep Singh Surjewala, the Congress leader responsible for the party’s affairs in Karnataka, described the development as the latest example of what he called unequal treatment of the BJP’s ally.
“In the dead of the night, BJP denied a Rajya Sabha nomination to former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, deciding to choose its state Vice President in charge of district building construction, M Nagaraja, over the former PM,” Surjewala wrote on X.
“The constant humiliation heaped upon JD(S) by BJP and its leadership and its repeated acceptance by H.D. Kumaraswamy merely for sticking to a ministerial chair at any cost is highly astonishing and eye opening. Furthermore, accepting this insult is an absolute extreme,” he said.
Surjewala also pointed to Congress support that helped send Gowda to the Rajya Sabha after his 2019 Lok Sabha defeat and recalled the former prime minister’s earlier public opposition to any alliance with the BJP.
“Now the BJP has denied a Rajya Sabha nomination to Gowda, choosing its leader over the former PM. This tells us that power at any cost, power at all costs, is the one and only motto of JD(S) in Karnataka now,” he said. State Congress President B K 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 the NDA have insulted the people of Karnataka. No one expected them to betray like this after taking the support of JD (S) and Deve Gowda for passing various Bills in the Parliament. People will punish the BJP in the days ahead,” he told reporters.
The BJP rejected suggestions that Gowda had been passed over after internal deliberations. BY Vijayendra, the party’s Karnataka president, said no discussion on a fresh Rajya Sabha term for the former prime minister had taken place within the state unit.
“Deve Gowda has worked to strengthen the NDA and support Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is a senior leader, and we have immense respect for him. No discussions regarding Deve Gowda’s Rajya Sabha nomination took place at the state unit level,” Vijayendra told reporters.
Instead, he cast Nagaraja’s selection as recognition for years of organisational work. According to Vijayendra, the nominee emerged from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad before serving in several BJP positions, including state vice president. He also served on the Karnataka Public Service Commission during the tenure of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa.
Vijayendra acknowledged that former Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh had also figured in discussions before the leadership settled on Nagaraja.
“We in the party have great regard 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 for alliance partner JD(S)’s HD Kumaraswamy in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. There is no denying that,” he said.
“Things have not ended here. Certainly, the leadership will consider her for an appropriate position in the days ahead.”
The Rajya Sabha election on June 18 will fill four vacancies arising from the retirement of Gowda, BJP members Iranna Kadadi and Narayana Koragappa, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Based on the current strength of parties in the Karnataka Assembly, Congress is positioned to secure three seats while the BJP can win one.
Arun Dev is an Assistant Editor with the Karnataka bureau of Hindustan Times. A journalist for over 10 years, he has written extensively on crime and politics.
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