Only Gowda will gain from Congress-JD(S) tie-up: Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa

Bengaluru: The Congress-JD(S) alliance has run into opposition from an unexpected quarter with Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa spiting fire and expressing his reservation on the tie-up of the party with JD(S) for the BBMP mayoral poll.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Mr Thimmappa who seemed to be espousing the cause of Congress veterans, said those who were bitterly fighting in the past are now joining hands to capture power in BBMP.

“An alliance with JD(S) is nothing new, Congress and BJP have previous experiences with JD(S). Mr Gowda is politically gaining by joining hands with Congress. Mr Siddaramaiah is a good administrator, I don’t know why he wanted this alliance. When he is ruling the state, why does he need just one city like Bengaluru?” the octogenarian leader wondered.

Mr Kagodu also urged the state government to convene a special session to discuss the drought situation in Karnataka, which is the worst he has ever witnessed.

“During the last 40 years, I have not witnessed such a bad drought. Never in history has a drought set in so early. The legislature should discuss ways and means of handling the drought situation in the coming days,” he said.

Mr Kagodu also said that farmers were put to hardship over the forest encroachment issue adding that there was a need to debate the issue in the House.

JD(S)’ tough conditions: drop BBMP division, pay contractors dues

With the Congress-JD(S) alliance almost certain for the BBMP mayoral polls, Mr Deve Gowda and son H.D. Kumaraswamy are likely to put forth two conditions for the pact to materialise: The BBMP should not be divided and two, the bills of contractors should be cleared in one installment.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader in the CM’s camp, said, “During our interaction with the JD(S) supremo Mr Gowda indicated that Mr Kumaraswamy was very apprehensive about Mr Siddaramaiah’s decision to divide the city into three or five divisions.” The source added that when KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar met Mr Gowda, the latter insisted that he does not want to be part of the negotiation process instead he stuck to his decision to get his son, Mr Kumarswamy do the hard talk.

The source observed that Mr Gowda’s 45-minute conversation revolved around how city affairs should be handled. “Giving examples of several cities like New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo and even major cities in India which have single city corporations to run the city administration, he wondered why the Congress was desperate to divide the city into three or five divisions,” the source said quoting Mr Gowda’s subtle hints about his reservation about the city’s division.

Another set of leaders indicated that Mr Kumaraswamy would insist on the release of funds to the tune of Rs 9,600 crore to clear the pending bills of BBMP. “Though only two indications have come so far, the JD(S) is certainly working on their exit plan from the alliance well before they even forge a relationship with us,” the source quipped.

Mayoral poll on September 11

Elections to the mayor and deputy mayor posts will be held on September 11. According to official sources in BBMP, an order to this effect was issued on Wednesday. The elections to both posts would be held at 1 pm on September 11. Nominations would be accepted for these posts from September 4.

Till Tuesday, there was talk of postponement of mayoral polls by two or three days in the wake of BJP filing a writ petition in Karnataka High Court questioning voting rights for nominated MLCs and Lok Sabha members as per the KMC Act. The case will come up for hearing on September 8.