The Seat That Wasn’t: How Deve Gowda’s Parliamentary Career May Be Nearing Its End

Published 8 June 2026 · politics

The Seat That Wasn’t: How Deve Gowda’s Parliamentary Career May Be Nearing Its End Reported By, Last Updated: June 08, 2026, 18:39 IST The BJP’s

The Seat That Wasn’t: How Deve Gowda’s Parliamentary Career May Be Nearing Its End Reported By, Last Updated: June 08, 2026, 18:39 IST The BJP’s choice of Prof. M. Nagaraj for Karnataka’s Rajya Sabha contest has left 94-year-old H.D. Deve Gowda staring at the end of his long parliamentary innings. Rapid Read PM and JD(S) veteran HD Deve Gowda. (Image: PTI/File) For nearly three decades after demitting office as Prime Minister, JD(S) supremo and India’s oldest-serving parliamentarian H.D. Deve Gowda remained a constant presence in Parliament and national politics. Even electoral defeats did little to keep him away from the legislature for long. Every setback was followed by a political comeback. That run now appears set to end. The BJP on Monday nominated senior party leader Prof. M. Nagaraj for the lone Rajya Sabha seat within the Opposition’s reach in Karnataka, effectively ruling out another term for the 94-year-old former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch. The move has come as a setback to the party, with workers disappointed by the decision of their alliance partner in the state and at the Centre. Instead, the BJP chose to back one of its own leaders, signalling that the party is unwilling to sacrifice its limited parliamentary opportunities even for a former Prime Minister from an alliance partner. The decision comes despite expectations within sections of the JD(S) that the BJP, its alliance partner in Karnataka, would accommodate Deve Gowda for one final term in the Upper House. The 94-year-old Deve Gowda first entered Parliament as a member of the Lok Sabha in 1991, when he was elected from the Hassan constituency in Karnataka. Before that, he had served multiple terms as an MLA and later became Leader of the Opposition and Chief Minister of Karnataka. Interestingly, when he became Prime Minister in June 1996, he was not a member of either House of Parliament. He was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha in September 1996 while serving as Prime Minister. The message was not limited to the Rajya Sabha. The BJP also announced Lingaraj Patil and OBC Morcha state president Raghu Kautilya as its candidates for the Legislative Council elections, leaving the JD(S) without a candidate assured of victory in either contest. Senior political commentator Sandeep Shastri said he was yet to see a former Prime Minister sustain himself politically for such a long period — 29 years after relinquishing the office of Prime Minister — while remaining politically relevant. “It is important to highlight the fact that we are talking about a political leader 29 years after he demitted the office of Prime Minister. He stepped down in 1997. Not only has he remained active, he has also played a critical role in shaping Indian politics. People may be critical of him for the strong family network he has built in politics, but let us remember that he is not the only one to have done so. That is not an excuse or a justification, but it is a reflection of the way politics operates in this country," he told News18. Shastri said there was considerable speculation over whether the BJP would accommodate Deve Gowda for another Rajya Sabha term. The BJP’s approach to coalition politics has generally been to gradually assert itself and emerge as the dominant partner, as seen in Maharashtra, Bihar and elsewhere. “I think the same process is visible in Karnataka. In that sense, Deve Gowda not returning to the Rajya Sabha is a reflection of that. The BJP’s position appears to be: we have accommodated your party within the NDA, your son is a Union Minister, but we are not willing to concede our seat to accommodate you," he told News18. Independent journalist and political observer Sugata Srinivasaraju, who has authored the only biography on Deve Gowda, Furrows in a Field, said he felt the former Prime Minister should have made his move earlier and stepped down on his own terms.