Bengaluru, Oct 22: Anitha Kumaraswamy, who is contesting the November 3 bypolls, feels that the Janata Dal (Secular) fielded her as its in Ramanagaram constituency not just because she’s the wife of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, but due to her efforts in building the party.
Anitha, an engineer in electronics and the head of a Kannada entertainment channel, is the first woman from the family of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda to enter politics. She made it to the Assembly for the first time by winning a keenly fought poll from Madhugiri in 2008. But she wasn’t successful in the next two elections she contested.
In an interview, Anitha said that people identify her as an individual with an identity of her own. “I am campaigning for my husband since 1996. I am more evolved as a politician today because of the experience I have gained. People in Ramanagaram look at me as an individual more than as the wife of Kumaraswamy. My candidature was considered going by my efforts in building the JD(S) in Ramanagaram,” she says.
However, she adds that the contribution of her father-in-law H D Deve Gowda to the constituency, which took him to the post of Chief Minister in 1994, and the development works taken up by her husband since 1996 are her main support.
“Both of them ensured the overall development of the constituency. Ramanagaram has witnessed unprecedented growth since 1994. Our family and Ramanagaram are almost bound with an umbilical cord or sorts,” she says.
Comments
Add new comment