I’m not being sacrificed, the party matters most’

Bengaluru
Nov. 29: The Legislative Council might miss one of its vocal speakers and an expert in Constitutional and parliamentary affairs in V.S. Ugrappa of the Congress if his party decides not to field him from Tumkur district local bodies constituency. The Council elections are slated for December 18.
Ironically, Mr Ugrappa is being sacrificed by the Congress to accommodate a candidate of Janata Dal(S)— the party he quit in 1998— as a part of a seat sharing arrangement between the two parties. The party may field him in the poll due to the Upper House from the Assembly constituency in March.
Mr Ugrappa dismissed the view that he was being made a sacrificial goat for the sake of the tie-up with JD(S) and told Deccan Chronicle in an interview that he had always believed party interests were supreme. Excerpts.

How can your party go with the JD(S) in the Council polls when they broke the alliance with Congress in 2006 and brought down the Dharam Singh government?
The party high command takes a comprehensive view of the political situation based on ground reality and future interests. It really needs some guts to let bygones be bygones. And the Congress has the guts to do that.
Could you explain what the ground reality is?
The BJP is cash-rich and will not hesitate to spend any amount of money to win. The Council polls have become a matter of prestige for Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa after the recent crisis that almost saw his exit. He has to win as many seats as possible which means a tough battle is on the cards. For us, it’s necessary to stop the BJP after its series of victories in recent elections including those to the Assembly and Parliament. A split in the secular vote has to be avoided. So, seat sharing is an electoral compulsion.
You could have demanded a seat as leader of the Opposition in the Council?
I have never sought a ticket for myself. This time I did not apply for a ticket. The district Congress committee has recommended my name but the decision is left to the high command.
Can you trust the JD(S)? JD (S) needs Congress more than we need them. So they have to be careful if they want our support. I have told the high command that cautious optimism should be our mantra while dealing with JD(S).
You have been a critic of JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda. Do you suspect that Mr Gowda is taking sweet revenge by demanding the Tumkur district seat for JD(S) as part of the poll tie-up so that you are unable to contest?
This is a heavily loaded question which I would not like to answer. I will leave it to you and the people to draw their inference.