Disunity threatens NDA partners in Council polls today

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: As the BJP-JD(S) combine plans to take on the ruling Congress in six Council seats on Monday, it fears that rebellion within its own ranks may cost it dear.

The six Council seats that will cast their ballot are Karnataka North-East Graduates, South-West Graduates, South-East Teachers, South -West Teachers, South Teachers and Bangalore Graduates.

The Bangalore Graduates seat, a BJP bastion, was one of the constituencies that became a bone of contention in the early going. The seat had been won by saffron party man Ramachandre Gowda for five terms.

However, JD(S) leader A Devegowda had come close to unseating Gowda, who eventually retired from electoral politics. The BJP then poached A Devegowda and gave him the ticket for the seat in 2018 and he had emerged victorious in 2018.

The incumbent is contesting again with JD(S) support while Congress has fielded Ramoji Gowda. The Congressman has competed from the same seat twice before and is hoping third time’s the charm.

Rebel candidates may play spoilsport However, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies is going up against rebel, independent candidates, who might prove to be formidable enough to siphon votes away and enable a Congress victory in the Bangalore Graduates seat.

One of the rebels is BJP state in-charge Arun Singh’s aide RS Uday Singh, which shows the saffron party in a bad light. The other independent is JD(S)-aligned M Puttaswamy whose campaign posters have included JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda and party state president HD Kumaraswamy. Perhaps fearing a lack of synergy, Kumaraswamy had called a co-ordination committee meeting at the JD(S) party office in Bengaluru.

He had even warned Puttaswamy that the JD(S) was officially backing A Devegowda in the seat and that if he continues to use the images of party leaders, he’d face legal action. Congress itself isn’t immune to internal friction. Party worker Ferdinand Lawrence filed his nomination as an independent when he was denied a ticket but the Congress suspended him alongside others who decided to contest as rebels.

There are more than 35 lakh graduates in the Bangalore Graduates constituency but only more than a lakh have registered, making the smaller size of the electorate crucial.