Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda could be coming to end of stint in public office on June 25

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JD(S) MP H.D. Deve Gowda speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi on April 3, 2025. | Photo Credit: File photo

The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda is set to end his more-than-six-decade-long political career in public office when his tenure as Rajya Sabha member comes to an end on June 25. While all eyes were on the BJP’s move, the saffron party late on June 7 night decided to nominate M. Nagaraja, an OBC leader, from its ranks instead of the nonagenarian leader. June 8 is the last date for filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections.

The JD(S) is a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

With the retirement of the 93-year-old leader known for his knowledge of agriculture and irrigation, especially the Cauvery river dispute, Parliament will not have any former Prime Minister as a member.

The JD(S) was hoping that Mr. Gowda, who is respected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Besides, with another Vokkaliga leader D.K. Shivakumar becoming the Chief Minister of Karnataka, there was speculation that the BJP could offer its seat to Mr. Gowda as a counter-weight in the optics of Vokkaliga politics that dominates the Old Mysuru region. However, the BJP State unit had insisted on nominating one of its own.

“This was not our elections because we did not have the numbers. We had not asked for it either. There is no question of disappointment. This was not our seat,” sources in JD(S) said. “We are not attaching too much of importance to this election. This was media speculation.”

In the election to four Rajya Sabha seats set to be held on June 18, Congress has the numbers to win three seats, and the BJP one seat. The JD(S), with 18 legislators, does not have the numbers, and was dependent on the BJP’s decision.

On multiple occasions in the past, Mr. Gowda, whose understanding of the regional caste equations is well known, has said that he would remai