india

Updated: Jul 04, 2019 23:18 IST

Even as former prime minister HD Deve Gowda went in for a rejig of the Janata Dal (Secular) by naming a new state president and working president, he promoted grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy to the post of youth wing president.

After the poor showing by the Congress-JD(S) coalition in the Lok Sabha polls, where they won one seat each of the 28 constituencies in the state, Deve Gowda had vowed to rebuild his party. However, state president AH Vishwanath had taken responsibility for the debacle, especially because Gowda himself lost from the Tumakuru seat.

On Thursday, Deve Gowda announced that HK Kumaraswamy, six-time MLA from Sakleshpur to be the state president, the first Dalit to hold the post in the party, and promoted youth wing president Madhu Bangarappa, son of former chief minister S Bangarappa, to the post of working president.

At the same time, Deve Gowda said though he did not wish to name Nikhil as the youth wing president, the other candidate had refused to take up the post, insisting that Nikhil should be given the position. Nikhil had recently lost the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency to Independent MP Sumalatha Ambareesh.

Nikhil said that he was surprised to receive a call at 11 am on Thursday asking him to take up the post. “I didn’t expect this at all. I said a few days ago in Malavalli that if I work as a diligent party member, only then should I be given any post,” he said.

Deve Gowda acknowledged that there might were differences between the coalition partners, but that these would be resolved in a mature manner. “Let there be no doubt that there is no danger to this government. There is no question of midterm polls,” he said.

Political analyst Narendar Pani said, “From the choice of president and working president it is clear that the JD(S) will look to increase its reach among the backward communities in the state.”