Council polls: No Cong-JD(S) pact?

A senior Congress leader said: “a pre-poll alliance could be suited for Assembly elections. With the JD(S) led by a whimsical leader like H.D. Kumaraswamy, one never knows how he will behave at crucial stage of elections. So, it will not be advisable to forge an alliance at this juncture. Instead, we could fight these elections on our own and keep our vote base intact.”

The leader added that Kumaraswamy was always comfortable with the BJP unlike his father, H.D. Deve Gowda, who often leaned towards Left parties. “In a way, Kumaraswamy’s thinking gels with that party as well. He knows he could always extract much more from the BJP than what he could from the Congress many pulls and pressures exist to rein him in our party. Moreover, his party is not a threat to the BJP where that party is strong. So, it suits both parties to arrive at an understanding prior to elections or even post elections. This is not possible with the Congress because of its rivalry with JD(S) in certain districts,” he added.

Besides, the Congress already holds 13 of the 25 seats going to polls shortly, and therefore would find it difficult to deny tickets to its candidates while ceding the ground to JD (S) in the event of a pre-poll alliance. “The Congress is aiming to win not less than 17 seats, which means we are just short of four seats to gain the status of majority party in the Legislative Council. Therefore, it will be easier for us to contest all 25 seats on our own and win 17 seats and to elect our own Chairman and deputy Chairman,” the leader added.