JD(S) lures Congress, BJP rebels with party tickets for Assembly elections

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: With the JD(S) releasing its second list on Friday and naming six more candidates on Saturday, it is clear that the strategy of waiting for disaffected aspirants from Congress and BJP to join the party for tickets is paying off. Both national parties have disclosed most of their candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections.

The BJP has named 212 candidates out of a possible 224, which has caused a full-blown rebellion within and an exodus from the party since many sitting MLAs and senior leaders have been denied tickets. Congress has dealt with fewer exits in disclosing 209 candidates in three lists.

However, the Grand Old Party rubbed applicants the wrong way by demanding Rs2 lakh from them in fees for general category aspirants and Rs1 lakh from hopefuls belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) with no guarantee of a ticket. As Congress names the remaining candidates, more disaffected ticket seekers may leave for the regional party.

JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy released the party’s first list in December and it had featured 93 candidates, mainly sitting MLAs and candidates who finished second in the 2018 Assembly elections. However, the former chief minister adopted a wait and watch strategy because his party didn’t have strong candidates for upwards of 100 seats outside of its Vokkaliga stronghold of Old Mysuru region.

Since then, enough disaffected aspirants from Congress and BJP expressed interest in JD(S). So the regional party disclosed 49 more names in the second list on Friday, followed by another six on Saturday, bringing their candidate tally to 148, which includes many national party turncoats.

Party bullish on major inductions Former Congress ticket aspirant from Chitradurga constituency Raghu Achar joined JD(S) on Friday. Achar, who belongs to the Vishwakarma caste, snagged a ticket from the segment the next day.

The other major induction is BJP MLA from Mudigere MP Kumaraswamy who also joined JD(S) on Friday. Friction had been building up between him and state BJP leaders for some time and he was snubbed despite being an incumbent in Mudigere, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Old associate of JD(S) patriarch HD Devegowda, YSV Datta who had left the JD(S) for Congress in January was denied a ticket from Kadur segment in Chikkamagaluru district. So he has returned and gotten a JD(S) ticket. Kumaraswamy has hinted that former BJP aspirant from Kalaburagi, Doddappa Gowda Patil will also join the regional party and land a ticket.

Former MLC HR Srinath also joined JD(S) recently and was keen on contesting from Gangavathi constituency in Koppal district but has lost the ticket to HR Channakeshava. Srinath had left JD(S) for Congress last but has returned. Former minister Manohar Tehsildar also joined JD(S) recently and will contest from Hangal.

In February, former BJP MLA from Hubballi-Dharwad West Veerabhadra Halaravi joined JD(S) and on Friday, snagged the coveted B form for his former constituency. Ex-Congress MLC SL Ghotnekar had also joined the regional outfit at the same time and was rewarded with a ticket from Halyal in Uttara Kannada district.