Ramanagara, which comes under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency, is witnessing Nikhil Kumaraswamy from the Janata Dal (Secular) contest against Iqbal Hussain HA from the Indian National Congress (INC) and Goutham Gowda from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
HD Kumaraswamy from the JD (S) won the seat in 2018 by defeating Iqbal Hussain HA from the INC.
The constituency is presently represented by Nikhil`s mother Anitha Kumaraswamy, who had won the 2018 by-election by a whopping margin of 1,09,137 votes.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, DK Suresh from the Congress party won the seat from the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha (MP), and that too with 2,0,6870 votes by beating Bharatiya Janata Party member Ashwathnarayangowda.
The Deve Gowda family`s grand plan of launching Nikhil Kumaraswamy in politics had failed in 2019, when he was defeated by actress-turned-politician Sumalatha Ambareesh by a huge margin of 1.25 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Mandya.
The constituency has 2,06,999 voters, with Hindus comprising 51.04 per cent of the electorate, and Muslims accounting for 47.65 per cent of the voters. The Vokkaliga vote bank is dominant among the Hindus, which is a staunch supporter of the JD(S). A major chunk of Muslim voters has traditionally supported the Deve Gowda family.
JD(S) has been in Ramanagara for the last 29 years. In 1994, former Prime Minister and veteran JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda won the seat by a huge margin and the constituency propelled him to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Since 2004, HD Kumaraswamy has contested from the constituency, and in 2006, he became the chief minister.
Nikhil Kumaraswamy, grandson of Deve Gowda, and son of former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, is contesting from the safest possible seat. The Deve Gowda family`s grand plan of launching Nikhil in politics had failed in 2019, when actress-turned-politician Sumalatha Ambareesh beat him by a huge margin of 1.25 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Mandya.
Out of 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly, the winning party must have at least 113 seats from the government in Karnataka.
The Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 is currently underway, and the results for the high-stake polls will be declared on May 13, 2023.