Bengaluru: Some Kuruba community leaders are said to be angry with opposition leader in the state Assembly Siddaramaiah for reportedly taking the help of the Janata Dal (Secular) to defeat two Kuruba netas-A.H. Vishwanath and M.T.B. Nagaraj in the bypolls.
A leader told Deccan Chronicle that the community had lost the chance of securing more representation in the Assembly as well as in the council of ministers because of this. The JD(S) reportedly wanted to take revenge against the 17 rebel legislators who pulled down the coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy and so got close to the Congress and hatched a plan to spoil the chances of the disqualified legislators. The JDS targeted four candidates-Vishwanath in Hunsur, MTB Nagaraj in Hosakote, Ramesh Jarkiholi in Gokak and Gopalaiah in Mahalakshmi Layout and succeeded in defeating two Kuruba candidates while the other two managed to win.
Sources said the Kuruba leaders advised Siddaramaiah to learn about unity from Vokkaliga leaders who supported Kumaraswamy and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda to the hilt. Cutting across party lines, former minister D.K. Shivakumar too worked with Kumaraswamy trying to consolidate Vokkaliga voters.
Had Siddaramaiah buried the hatchet with Vishwanath, it could have helped the Hunsur BJP candidate win, said sources adding it is common for leaders of the same community to have differences which need to be sorted out in the interests of the community.
