Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, JD(S) fights to retain toehold in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The JD(S) could end up becoming conspicuous only by its absence from Bengaluru’s political scene in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections if the Congress sticks to its stand that any seat-sharing formula should be based on the performance of parties in the 2018 assembly elections.
The Congress high command has stepped up the process of building consensus on seat sharing in Karnataka on Sunday after it struck a deal with the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra.Kambampatti Rammonah, TDP spokesperson, said N Chandrababu Naidu will have a chat with Karnataka leaders including JD(S) patriarch HD Gowda on Tuesday.
The JD(S) wants to field a candidate from Bengaluru North where Vokkaliga votes are decisive. Sources say Gowda, who has promised to vacate his Hassan seat for his grandson Prajwal Revanna, is interested in contesting from Bengaluru North. However, highlyplaced sources in the Congress said though the party is unwilling to spare the seat, it will consider giving it to the JD(S) if Gowda is the candidate.
“Bengaluru North is among the winnable seats in our list,” said a senior Congress leader. “While the Congress has won five assembly segments in last year’s elections, JD(S) won only two from there. So it would be unreasonable for them to ask for this seat. While we want to field a Vokkaliga candidate from the segment, the priority is a youngster. However, if Mr Gowda himself wants to be a candidate, then it’s a different issue. But, any other JD(S) candidate is not negotiable.”
JD(S) leaders say the issue is still being discussed and many feel Gowda, who could emerge a consensus candidate for the prime minister post in case of a fractured mandate, should contest from Hassan and get Prajwal to contest from another safe seat. Sources say if the Congress denies Bengaluru North to Prajwal, the JD(S) will have to field him from Mandya.
If that happens, the JD(S) may not have any presence in Bengaluru which has five parliamentary constituencies — Bengaluru South, North, Central, Rural and Chikkaballapura. Pockets of the city fall under Bengaluru Rural and Chikkaballapura constituencies. The Congress is unwilling to give up any of these seats including Chikkaballapura, represented now by senior leader Veerappa Moily.
“The main objective is to jointly win as many seats as possible against BJP,” said Rizwan Arshad, who is likely to be the Congress candidate from Bengaluru Central. “So, the criterion would be the winning prospects of candidates. Whether he or she is from the Congress or JD(S) does not matter. I am sure the seat-sharing issue will be amicably settled.”
The JD(S) is seeking 12 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Currently, it has only two members in Parliament, but the party argues that in combination with the Congress it will defeat the BJP in all 12 seats. Mysuru, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Chikkballapuara and Kolar are among the seats it is asking for.
With Congress leaders indicating that a “reasonable number” of seats for its ally would not be more than six, miffed JD(S) leaders have threatened to go it alone. “If the Congress does not shed its big-brother attitude, we will have to go it alone and field candidates in all 28 seats,” said JD(S) spokesperson Ramesh Babu.