Deve Gowda has alleged that his party, the JD(S) is not getting the required support on the ground from the BJP.
JD(S) state chief and former CM HD Kumaraswamy called on Mandya incumbent MP Sumalatha Ambareesh in Bengaluru on Sunday, 31 March, 2024. (Supplied)
The much talked about BJP-JD(S) alliance might be in trouble with just a day to go for voting for 14 seats in Karnataka under the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda has alleged that his party, the JD(S), is not getting the required support on the ground from the BJP.
This is alarming for the regional party as they are contesting in just 3 Lok Sabha constituency seats — Hassan, Mandya and Kolar in alliance with the BJP.
As part of the seat-sharing arrangement, the BJP will contest in 25 constituencies out of the total 28 in the state.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, 24 April, in Hassan, he said, “Some BJP leaders are not cooperating…. At Mandya, (sitting MP) Sumalatha is not cooperating with Kumaraswamy.”
In Hassan, Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna is seeking a second term. Initially, a section of BJP leaders under Preetham Gowda, general secretary of the state BJP unit opposed Prajwal’s candidature.
In Mandya, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is the candidate for the JD(S) in place of incumbent MP Sumalatha Ambareesh who was forced to cede her seat. She joined the BJP on 5 April.
On 3 April, Sumalatha, after consulting her supporters and well-wishers in Mandya, announced her decision to opt out of the elections and join the BJP.
The wife of popular film star MH Ambareesh, Sumalatha had earlier staked claim for a BJP ticket for re-election from the Mandya seat that her late husband represented in the past. But the party convinced her and gave it to JD(S).
Kumaraswamy had met Sumalatha and sought her cooperation in the polls.
On 5 April, Kumaraswamy told news agency PTI that he was sincerely working for NDA’s better prospects in the Lok Sabha polls.
He added that the continuation of the alliance with BJP, after the parliamentary elections, will depend on how his party and its leaders are treated.
In March, JD(S) leaders voiced grievances to their party leadership regarding the indifferent treatment meted out by their coalition partners during the recent core committee meeting.
Allegations abound that the BJP has not extended invitations to its alliance party’s MLAs for the recent rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Shivamogga and Kalaburagi.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders had then refuted these allegations and expressed confidence that any discord between coalition parties would be resolved.
During a recent state-level core committee meeting of the JD(S), several MLAs — including Devadurga’s Karemma G Nayak and Gurumitkal’s Sharangouda Kandakur — expressed their frustration to the party leadership over the behaviour of their alliance partner.
Mandya has eight Assembly segments, out of which six are represented by Congress, and one each by JD(S) and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha.
The polling in Karnataka will be conducted in two phases. The first phase is for South Karnataka constituencies on 26 April, and the second phase is for North Karnataka on 7 May.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
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