JD(S) may get C.B.pur with conditions

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: JD(S) may contest from the Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha seat if party state president HD Kumaraswamy agrees to be fielded from the constituency.

This is one of the possibilities being considered by the regional outfit as seat sharing talks between the alliance partners gain momentum.

Kumaraswamy had contested from Chikkaballapur in 2014 and lost to another former chief minister in Veerappa Moily by a narrow margin of 9,520 votes.

However, the for mer Union Minister lost his stronghold to BN Bache Gowda by a massive margin of 1,82,110 votes.

JD(S) is hoping the alliance partners can retain Chikkaballapur with their combined strength. Moreover, the regional outfit retains some presence in the district.

Kumaraswamy is a one-time MP from Bengaluru Rural, where he won back in 2009. The speculation comes in the backdrop of mixed signals being sent by the coalition members.

A few days’ prior, former minister and BJP leader K Sudhakar suggested that JD(S) had given him the “green light” to contest from Chikkaballapur.

Hassan, Mandya bones of contention

JD(S) has been assured of two seats namely Hassan and Mandya. They may get one or two more seats while the BJP contests from a minimum of 24 seats out of 28. Party patriarch HD Devegowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna is the incumbent MP from the pocket borough Hassan.

However, last year, a single judge bench of the Karnataka High Court (HC) had dismissed Prajwal as an MP, upholding the allegation that he had lied in his affidavit.

The decision was stayed by the Supreme Court. Some in the BJP aren’t happy about Prajwal in all probability retaining the seat. Devegowda has gone on record to state that his grandson will contest from Hassan, a seat he won from five times.

Karnataka BJP general secretary and former Hassan MLA Preetham Gowda wants the Hassan Lok Sabha seat for himself.

He had lost to Prajwal back in 2019. Mandya on the other hand is even more tricky.

The BJP feels comfortable in handing the JD(S) the chance to contest from the seat, which is very much a part of the Old Mysuru Vokkaliga heartland, a region where the saffron party has struggled.

However, Mandya is represented by BJP-backed independent Sumalatha Ambareesh, who had beaten Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil (then allied with Congress) by a huge margin of 1,25,876 seats back in 2019.

This time, she might lose her saffron party backing and contest from the seat independently or with Congress backing or even join the Grand Old Party. JD(S) is mooting fielding Kumaraswamy, Nikhil or former Mandya MP CS Puttaraju from the seat.

The other options given to JD(S) are either Kolar or Bengaluru Rural. Kolar’s sitting MP is BJP’s S Muniswamy, who has apparently lost favour with the party high command due to anti-incumbency in his seat.

Bengaluru Rural on the other hand is represented by Congressman DK Suresh, the younger brother of Deputy CM DK Shivakumar.