HDK-DKS bonhomie sign of a Vokkaliga gameplan?

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: “I think no party will get a majority in the State to form the government on its own. I feel the electorate will give a fractured mandate”. Former CM and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, H.D.Kumaraswamy. “Don’t make an all out attack on former PM and JDS supremo H.D.Deve Gowda. You restrain yourself from mounting attacks on Gowda”.

KPCC President D.K.Shivakumar.  These statements are made by two state leaders of the separate political parties ahead of the crucial 2023 Assembly polls. Carefully analysing these two statements will give a possible scenario of what may happen if no party is able to cross the magic number of 113 seats to form the government on its own.

Once two arch rivals, Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy have now mellowed down. They were popular as ‘Jodetthu’ (pair of bullocks) in 2019 General elections when the duo slogged on the dusty roads of the vokkaliga dominant Mandya district to seek votes for the then coalition candidate, Nikhil Kumaraswamy.

Though the former CM, Siddaramaiah did the campaign namesake due to strained relationship with the Deve Gowda family, Shivakumar tried his best visiting every village to ensure Nikhil’s victory. But the sympathy for former minister late M.H.Ambareesh worked miracles for his wife, Sumalatha Ambareesh who won by a margin of 1.25 lakh votes.

Since then both Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy have stopped crossing the swords and not exchanged any barbs in recent months. In fact, Shivakumar has almost stopped attacking the JDS in general and Deve Gowda in particular whereas Siddaramaiah has continued his tirade against the regional party.

All these days, Kumaraswamy was talking of his party’s target of 123 seats in the 2023 Assembly polls but all of a sudden he is learnt to be talking of the fractured verdict. His statement has a lot of significance and is trying to send the message that his party would play an important role in the formation of the next government no matter whether it is by Congress or BJP.

In fact, the JDS wants no party to get the majority so that it can be a kingmaker not only in the formation of the new government but also in the selection of the next CM. Seeing the veiled attack on the octogenarian politician, Deve Gowda by Siddaramaiah all these years, the JDS may dictate the Congress High Command to make Shivakumar as the CM in case they wanted his party support.

Through this, Deve Gowda wants to take revenge against Siddaramaiah who was allegedly responsible for the fall of Congress and JDS coalition government headed by Chief Minister Kumaraswamy. Gowda has not forgotten how his former ‘shishya’ made 15 of his party legislators to resign and join BJP to topple the Kumaraswamy government.

The JDS supremo has not forgotten the leaked video of Siddaramaiah in Dharmasthala naturopathy center where he clearly says that the coalition government would not last long. Since then, Kumaraswamy has been nursing revenge against Siddaramaiah and waiting for an opportunity to spoil his chances of becoming the CM for the second term and put a condition of extending support only if Shivakumar was made the CM.

By doing this, Kumaraswamy would ensure a vokkaliga to become the next CM than a Kuruba leader. Though, there is no tacit understanding between Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy but they have a common target of spoiling Siddramaiah’s dream at any cost, and instal former deputy chief minister, Dr.G.Parameshwar, a dalit as the next CM.

Since Siddaramaiah has declared the 2023 Assembly election as his last polls, Kumaraswamy wants to make the former’s dream unfulfilled for unnecessarily criticising the JDS as the ‘B’ team of BJP and for making a number of former and sitting MLAs’ to join the Congress Party