Deve Gowda accedes to JD(S) MLAs over BJP tie-up

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: JD(S) national president and patriarch HD Deve Gowda appears to have conceded to the concerns of party MLAs and distanced himself from the BJP for now.

It is being whispered that a multitude of JD(S) MLAs fear losing Muslim votes if they were to contest elections alongside the BJP.

The likes of Deve Gowda’s son and Holenarasipura MLA HD Revanna and Chamundeshwari MLA GT Deve Gowda had been particularly vocal about not tying up with the saffron party.

The concerns were raised in a JD(S) legislature party meeting. Following the opposition, Deve Gowda on Tuesday announced that the regional outfit would go it alone for the Lok Sabha elections next year. However, the door hasn’t been closed on a post-poll alliance.

The fear that JD(S) may not be able to accomplish much on its own in the general elections also remains since voters prefer national parties for the same. The JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy on the other hand has made it clear that JD(S) and BJP would “work together” as Opposition parties on the floor of the House, jointly attacking Congress over alleged irregularities in the Bengaluru-Mysuru corridor project which is currently owned by the Nandini Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE).

He even responded to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s jibe in the Assembly that whether he’d joined the BJP. Kumaraswamy had shot back that he’d take a call to save the party from an existential crisis, adding that he’d do everything openly.

Wooing minorities

A section of the party supporters believed that it had lost significant support among Muslims in Old Mysuru region in the May 13 Assembly polls so they should ally with the BJP while others disagreed.