Father-son duo make it to Lok Sabha

BANGALORE: The father-son duo of JDS chief H D Deve Gowda and party state unit president Kumaraswamy have both made it to Lok Sabha, winning their seats by spectacular margins.

Considered one of the architects of the Third Front, Gowda has yet again proved his credentials as Vokkaliga strongman by his victory in his home turf Hassan with a margin of 2.91 lakh votes against BJP's K H Hanumegowda.

Hassan, the hotbed of Vokkaliga politics, seems to have given an emotive response to Gowda who had declared the current Lok Sabha elections as being his 'Last Battle'.

The former Prime Minister is now set to enter the Lok Sabha for the fifth time, joined by his son Kumaraswamy, a former Chief Minister.

The alleged soft approach of Congress towards Gowda and internal differences within local BJP also seemed to have helped the JDS chief.

Reaping the benefits of a divided Congress and BJP, Kumaraswamy romped home victorious from the newly carved Bangalore Rural Constituency by trouncing the new face of the BJP C P Yogeshwar by 1.30 lakh votes.

It was sweet revenge for Kumaraswamy as he pushed Congress' Tejaswini Gowda to the third place.

Tejaswini, a former TV journalist, had emerged as a giant killer in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls when she humbled the senior Gowda in the erstwhile Kanakapura.

Of the three times he contested for Lok Sabha,Kumaraswamy is tasting the victory for the second time.