Janata Dal (Secular) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy resigned as president of his party’s youth wing Thursday. In a letter to the JDS’ senior leadership, the grandson of former prime minister and party boss HD Deve Gowda said his quitting was in line with plans to restructure and rebuild after a dismal performance in this month’s Assembly election. The JDS won just 19 of the state’s 224 Assembly constituencies and saw erstwhile allies Congress crush the BJP (135-66) to form the government.
“The result of (the) Karnataka Assembly election has left me very sad but it has opened many possibilities for rebuilding the party. As the president of Karnataka Pradesh Yuva Janata Dal (Secular) unit, I have performed my duties to the best of my ability under the guidance of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and ex-chief minister HD Kumaraswamy,” Nikhil Kumaraswamy wrote.

“I worked hard to organise the party and take it to the people of Karnataka. However, defeat is not final,” the young leader said, explaining that he saw it as an opportunity to learn and rebuild.

“After the defeat we all have to perform our duty with a spirit of dedication and allow new leadership in the direction of building the party strong. In this regard I am resigning as the president of the Janata Dal youth wing. The party has agreed to my decision and, together, we are (moving) in the direction of strengthening the party by enabling the new leadership,” he wrote.
Nikhil Kumaraswamy, a former actor, contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Mandya district but lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh, who contested as an independent candidate.

In the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election he contested from Ramanagara constituency – the seat his mother Anitha Kumaraswamy won in 2018. He lost that seat too – to the Congress’ HA Iqbal Hussain by nearly 8,000 votes.