JD(S) workers voted for BJP in Mysuru, says JD(S) minister

BENGALURU / MYSURU: Higher education minister GT Devegowda on Wednesday raised doubts whether Congress candidate CH Vijayashankar would win in the Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency when he said JD(S) workers had voted for BJP in some pockets.
“In many villages, local leaders and workers of Congress and JD(S) couldn’t bury their differences. JD(S) workers preferred Pratap Simha (BJP) over Vijayashankar keeping their political future in mind,” said Devegowda.He cited the example of Udbur gram panchayat in Chamundeshwari assembly constituency to substantiate his claim.
Devegowda added that both parties should have finalised seat-sharing and candidate selection weeks ahead of announcement of polls and elicited the opinions of local leaders and workers. “The alliance would have been more successful and reduced BJP’s tally to a single digit,” he said. If both parties had faced elections separately, they would have performed better. Devegowda had not campaigned for Vijayashankar till his political bete noire Siddaramaiah met him personally and invited him.