Gowda's grandson offers his Hassan LS seat after ex-PM loses in Tumkur

The lone JD(S) winner in the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, Prajwal Revanna announced Friday he was willing to give up his seat to pave the way for his grandfather, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, who tasted defeat in the elections.

Prajwal, who is the son of PWD minister H D Revanna, and chief minister H D Kumaraswamy's nephew, was upset over the defeat of his 87-year old grandfather from Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency at the hands of BJP candidate G S Basavaraj.

Gowda had shifted from his traditional bastion Hassan to Tumkur to make way for his grandson.

"I have taken a decision which I propose before Deve Gowda, the people of Hassan and the senior leaders and our party workers. I have arrived at a decision to resign. I want to vacate this place to pave way for him (Deve Gowda) to have 'Vijayotsava (the celebration of victory)," Prajwal said.

The election results also saw his cousin and Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil routed terribly at the hands of independent candidate Sumalatha, supported by the BJP which painted Karnataka saffron winning 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats.

Ruling coalition partners Congress and JD(S) finished with a seat each.

JD(S) had contested seven seats and everyone but Prajwal was swept away by the Modi wave Thursday.

Agonised with the defeat of his grandfather, Prajwal told reporters in Hassan that Gowda was the foundation of JD(S) and it was essential to give him the place he deserves to instill confidence among the party workers.

Prajwal said he sought an appointment with Gowda and would persuade him and other party leaders to accept his resignation.

There was no immediate reaction from the JD(S) leadership about it.