BBMP mayoral poll: JD(S) desperate for pact

Bengaluru: The Janata Dal (S) effort to reinvent itself seems to be the reason why the party leadership is considering the option of joining hands with the Congress for the BBMP mayoral poll. Sources in the party revealed the so-called reasons which compelled the JD(S) leadership to explore this possibility.

"In the BBMP polls, the JD (S) got 14 seats of which only five are Vokkaligas and nine belong to OBC, SC/ST and minority communities. Even in the worst result for us, there was a message: people from these sections backed JD(S). This clearly shows that if we galvanise the party, we can continue to attract votes from these sections. If we could get votes from these sections in urban areas, we can also improve our tally in rural Karnataka. So, to reach out to these sections, the party wants to establish itself as a true secular party.”

Based on this logic, the party leadership is considering the proposal of supporting the Congress in BBMP to treat this a launch pad for its revival in the state," sources said. The JD (S) will go with Congress if the latter comes out with a concrete proposal for an alliance. Party supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda said in Hassan that none from the Congress had approached him.

The JD (S) has one more reason to think on these lines. Party leaders are worried that BJP, particularly former deputy CM R. Ashok and his team may grow into a threat to the party in the city in future. Therefore, it would be appropriate to keep the BJP at bay to limit Mr Ashok’s growing influence in the city and in the BJP, sources explained.

We are open to alliance with Congress: HDK

A day after sending confusing signals that he would recall his corporators from Kochi, former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy lobbed the ball into the Congress court saying his party was open to an alliance with Congress. Meanwhile, his close associates Mr N. Cheluvarayaswamy and Mr Zameer Ahamed Khan held a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday late evening.

The indication is that there could be an official meeting between JD(S) patriarch Mr H.D. Deve Gowda with Mr Siddaramaiah and KPCC President Dr G Parameshwar in a day or two. Mr Kumaraswamy told reporters that the BJP had ruined the city during the last five years and left Bengaluru debt ridden. Since the Congress was at the helm in the state, it would be beneficial to the city if JD(S) supported it, he said.