Kumaraswamy flies out to Delhi, to contest LS polls?

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: J D(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy flew out to New Delhi on Wednesday amid rumours that ally BJP is mooting his name for next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

One of the options the alliance partners is considering is Kumaraswamy contesting from Bengaluru Rural incumbent DK Suresh, the younger brother of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Interestingly, the JD(S) bigwig had won from the seat back in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Moreover, if Kumaraswamy wins, he may be rewarded with a Union ministry, it is being rumoured.

There is also speculation that Kumaraswamy will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to hammer out a seat sharing arrangement for the general election.

The JD(S) is said to be keen on retaining seats in the Vokkaliga heartland of Old Mysuru where they have influence.

However, the former chief minister tried to downplay the rumours, insisting that he was flying out to New Delhi for personal work.

“It has nothing to do with seat sharing. I’m heading there for some personal work. Why should flying to Delhi be considered special? There is nothing special about me flying to Delhi. I have some work. That is all,” Kumaraswamy said.

When pressed about seat sharing talks with the BJP, he said he could answer only after returning.

“There is nothing of the sort. I’ll tell you after I return,” he added.

Different ball game to 2019

BJP had won 25 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in addition to Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent backed by the saffron party winning from Mandya.

Back then, JD(S) had been allied with the Congress and Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil had lost against Sumalatha. However, a lot of water has flown under the bridge since then.

Congress romped home to victory in May’s Assembly polls, winning 135 seats, finishing as the single largest party in Old Mysuru region as well, reducing JD(S) from 37 seats in 2018 to 19 seats this time around.

This had forced Kumaraswamy to admit on the floor of the Assembly that his party was indeed facing an existential crisis and that he would take a call to save it.

Muslim and Dalit voters – who account for more than a third of the electorate in Karnataka –had consolidated behind Congress for the Assembly polls and this is likely to continue.

To counter this, the BJP-JD(S) combine is trying to cobble together a Lingayat-Vokkaliga winning formula.

The regional outfit is keen to contest from Hassan, Bengaluru Rural, Mandya, Tumakuru and Mysuru-Kodagu in addition to more in the old Mysuru region. However, two of these seats are currently held by BJP.