Nikhil Gowda

Nikhil ran in the 2019 Indian general election in Karnataka from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, as a Janata Dal (Secular) candidate. Mandya was considered a safe bastion for the erstwhile Congress-JDS alliance as historically, Indian National Congress was the most successful party, followed by Janata Dal (Secular) to contest in the district. He lost in the elections to Sumalatha, who is the wife of late Kannada veteran Ambareesh, by a margin of 128,876 votes.

He contested in the 2023 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, from Ramanagara where his father H. D. Kumaraswamy, mother Anitha and grandfather H. D. Devegowda had previously represented. In spite of all these he conceded defeat against Iqbal Hussain from Congress by a margin of 11,000 votes.