MYSURU: After some late-night manoeuvring, former chief minister Siddaramaiah was able to turn the tables on the BJP on Saturday and help Congress gain control of the Mysuru zilla panchayat. The election to the posts of president and vice-president was held on Saturday. Just on Friday, the local JD(S) leaders had announced that the tie-up will BJP would continue. The zilla panchayat still has another 26 months before the term ends.
Siddaramaiah managed to get the better of his arch rival, Higher Education Minister G T Devegowda, and Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh, who had announced an alliance with BJP in Mysuru ZP, by striking a last-minute deal with JD(S) supermo H D Deve Gowda. The JD(S) local leaders and ministers had opened doors for talks with BJP leaders and decided to take the president’s post while leaving the vice-president post to the BJP.
Though, Congress, with 22 members in the 49-member ZP, had no numbers to wrest power, Siddaramaiah had directed local leaders to prepare the ground for wresting power in the local body. Along with AICC Karnataka in charge, K C Venugopal and other senior leaders, the former CM held talks with the JD(S) supremo and reminded him of the the coalition dharma. They also warned that any move otherwise would send a wrong message to the people in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, giving an advantage to the BJP.
Though Deve Gowda had initially agreed to give both the president and vice-president posts to Congress, state JD(S) president A H Vishwanath pitched for the president’s post on rotation to make a woman from the Kunchitiga community as the first president of Mysuru ZP. The late-night development left the local JD(S) leaders with no choice but to form an alliance with the Congress.
Sources said Minister Mahesh also apologised to BJP members who had supported JD(S) in first half of the ZP’s tenure.Siddaramaiah had not been able to wrest the Mysuru ZP when he was chief minister. Friday’s development has not only come as a morale booster for Congressmen, but also sent a clear message that he will have a decisive say in seat sharing and selection of candidates for Lok Sabha elections.