... but JDS lawmakers oppose ties with BJP, keen on secular image

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Even as JD(S) leader HD Kumarswamy cosies up to the BJP, a section of party MLAs are learnt to have opposed any ties with the saffronists in the coming Lok Sabha polls and want the JD(S) to retain its image of a regional party wedded to secularism.

Former PM and JDS supremo, H.D.Deve Gowda had convened a meeting of the party legislators at a hotel here on Thursday night to seek the opinion of the legislators in the wake of the recent bonhomie between the JD(S) and BJP inside and outside the House.

This ‘floor adjustment ‘ between the two parties has become an issue for the ruling Congress to question the secular credentials of the JD(S). A senior JD(S) MLA on the condition of anonymity said of the total 19 legislators, a majority firmly said ‘no’ to a possible tie-up with the BJP in the coming parliamentary polls as it would not be advantageous in the election.

The regional party has already burnt its fingers once by having a tacit understanding with the saffron party and it is not advisable to repeat the mistake, the legislators said.

Former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy however feels the party cannot take on the mighty Congress Party in the coming ZP/ TP polls, BBMP elections, and the crucial Lok Sabha polls and more so after the disappointng results of the recent Assembly polls.

The JD(S) seems to have already become a divided house; In the last week, Kumaraswamy had been openly supporting the BJP and participating in dharnas held by the saffron party while another section of MLAs have been praising the state budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the five guarantee schemes.

Former minister and Holenarasipur MLA, H.D.Revanna, elder brother of Kumaraswamy, was not in favor of staging a dharna jointly with the BJP over the amendment to the APMC Act but was forced to give in to avoid embarrassment to the floor leader.

The MLA claimed a few senior legislators like G.T.Deve Gowda slammed BJP members for tearing up papers and throwing them at the deputy Speaker.