Mangaluru: Indicating that he was agreeable to showing flexibility during seat sharing talks with the Congress, Janata Dal(Secular) supremo Deve Gowda said his party would not be 'rigid' in its demand to contest 12 of the total 28 seats. He said in Mangaluru that he had also asked the Congress to have a similar mentality so that there is no hindrance in fighting the BJP. Asserting that the issue of seat sharing will not create any crisis in the coalition, JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda has declared that he will not take an adamant stand on the party’s seat share.
Mr Gowda who was in Mangaluru on Sunday, told reporters that though the JD(S) has demanded 12 seats as part of seat sharing, his party would not be stubborn. "We had demanded 12 seats as our share in the Lok Sabha election. However we are flexible on this to safeguard the coalition. We will have a cordial solution," he said.
He also hoped that the Congress too would adopt the same stand. "The coalition government is in power for the last nine months. There is speculation that the coalition will collapse due to the confusion on seat sharing. But we will ensure that there is no confusion and we will not allow the coalition to be in danger because of differences on seat sharing," Mr Gowda declared.
"The BJP won 17 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. It can be defeated with the joint efforts of Congress and JD(S). So we will unitedly fight against the BJP," he said.
Gowda said that the seat sharing would be discussed at the coordination committee meeting to be held on Monday.
The final list would be based on the decision of the Congress high command and would be announced in two weeks.
Speaking on actress Sumalatha expressing interest in contesting from Mandya, Gowda said that it was but natural. "But Hassan and Mandya have always been stronghold of JD(S). That is the reason why the Congress has not come to a final decision on it," he said.
Gowda also hinted at the entry of his grandson Nikhil into the Lok Sabha fray. "It is not yet decided who should contest from Mandya. However people want Nikhil to contest. Nikhil had said that he would be away from politics for two years. But I have told him to contest if people want him to," he added.
He also spoke on his other grandson Prajwal Revanna's entry into politics. "I had suggested that he should do his MTech but he is not keen on that and has been active during elections. After a discussion with leaders I have allowed him to continue (in politics)," he added. Though Gowda said that he had not yet decided on contesting the election, he added that when he had lost Hassan, it was Ramnagara which ensured a victory for him.
