A day after expressing his dissatisfaction with the election results in the Hassan constituency, JD(S) leader and newly elected MP from Karnataka's Mandya, HD Kumaraswamy, clarified that Prajwal Revanna's loss was due to local issues rather than national controversies. Prajwal Revanna, the JD(S) candidate from Hassan, was defeated by Congress' Patel by a margin of 40,000 votes. The defeat also marked Congress' first win in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency in 25 years.
Prajwal Revanna is at the center of sexual abuse acquisitions in the state. On the defeat, Kumaraswamy stated, "Prajwal Revanna's defeat was expected. One part of the voters expected that, but he lost the elections because of local issues. not because of this incident going on in the country... Miscommunication and support from one section of the society made us lose that seat."
Prajwal Revanna is the nephew of Kumaraswamy.
The controversy surrounding Prajwal Revanna did not come to limelight during the first phase of voting in Karnataka, which included seats including Hassan, on April 26. Although Prajwal participated in the first phase of elections in Karnataka, the controversy became a significant issue during the second phase of elections on May 7. HD Kumaraswamy emphasised that the primary reason for the defeat was local concerns rather than the broader national controversy.
Meanwhile, the winning candidate Shreyas M Patel is the grandson of late Minister G. Puttaswamy Gowda. The political feud between the Gowda and Puttaswamy Gowda families over electoral contest is well-known in Karnataka.