Bullish JD(S) to demand maximum seats from BJP

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Buoyed by internal surveys, JD(S) is preparing to bid for five to six Lok Sabha constituencies in the Old Mysuru region in the upcoming seat sharing talks with the BJP.

The six seats short-listed by the regional outfit include Tumakuru, Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru-Kodagu, Chikkaballapura and Hassan, where JD(S)’ Prajwal Revanna is the sitting MP.

The rest of these seats are occupied by BJP MPs. Tumakuru for instance, is represented in the Lok Sabha by BJP’s GS Basavaraj, who had defeated JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda by a narrow margin of 13,339 seats in 2019.

The seat sharing talks are set to resume after Sankranti (January 15) or after the consecration of the Ram Mandir (January 22) in Ayodhya, which would be attended by Deve Gowda and son and second-incommand HD Kumaraswamy.

The event would also draw the likes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa and his son and BJP state president BY Vijayendra.

Saffron party to claim B’luru Rural?

The exclusion of the Bengaluru Rural seat from the JD(S)’ wish list comes as a surprise since it was initially rumoured that Kumarswamy would contest against the incumbent MP DK Suresh, the brother of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

JD(S) laying claim to the seat wouldn’t require the BJP to displace a sitting MP of theirs.

Kumaraswamy is the MLA of Channapatna in Ramanagara district, which falls under the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha seat. However, Vijayendra is keen on BJP fielding their candidate from the seat.

Apparently, Kumaraswamy’s attention has shifted to contesting from Mandya, which is held by BJP-backed independent Sumalatha Ambareesh.

The actress-turned-politician might be asked to contest from Bengaluru North, candidacy for which would be open since sitting MP Sadananda Gowda has announced retirement from electoral politics.

However, it isn’t a given that Sumaltha would accept the offer. If Kumaraswamy contests from Mandya, JD(S) workers believe it would influence the neighbouring district Mysuru, where the regional party is also pushing to field a candidate.

The incumbent Mysuru-Kodagu MP is BJP’s Pratap Simha, who is confident of contesting from the seat again.

The regional party is considering fielding JD(S) MLA from Krishnarajanagara SR Mahesh from Mysuru-Kodagu.

The JD(S) is counting on its status as the second largest party in the Old Mysuru region behind Congress in the last year’s Assembly elections.

The regional outfit had secured a vote share of 32 per cent in the Mysuru, Tumakuru, Mandya, Hassan and Kodagu districts, which amounted to more than 20 lakh votes.

The BJP on the other hand bagged a vote share of nearly 23 per cent in the relevant districts, which translated to upwards of 14 lakh votes.

Similarly, JD(S) fared better than BJP in Kolar and Chikaballapura districts. The issue is that the incumbent MPs in these seats belong to the BJP.

Moreover, they have a natural advantage in the Lok Sabha polls.