Bengaluru: Dinesh Gundurao ropes in Venugopal to pacify H.D. Deve Gowda, Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: In late night diplomacy on Monday, KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao roped in AICC General Secretary in charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal to pacify and unite JD(S) supremo Mr H.D. Deve Gowda and former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who had been acting independently even after the Lok Sabha elections were declared.

The earlier attempt by Mr Gundurao to break the ice between the two leaders last month, when Mr Gowda had sought 12 Lok Sabha seats for the JD(S), had failed. Realising that the 'distance' between Mr Gowda and Mr Siddaramaiah would do no good to the coalition's fortunes in the polls, Mr Gundurao is said to have held a couple of meetings with colleagues like Dr G Parameshwar and Mr D.K. Shivakumar but they could not come up with a solution to bring the two leaders together.

After AICC President Rahul Gandhi's function in the city on Monday, Mr Gundurao raised the issue with Mr Venugopal who decided to call on Mr Gowda and convince him on the need to mend fences. At the late evening meeting, Mr Venugopal said it was important for Mr Gowda and Mr Siddaramaiah to send out a strong signal on the unity of the coalition failing which it would be difficult to ensure a co-ordinated campaign by workers of both parties in places like Hassan, Mandya, Tumakuru and Mysuru.

Mr Gowda and his family are particularly worried about Mandya and Tumakuru, where Congress workers are said to be not prepared to join the joint campaign with JD(S) workers.

With the stakes high in both constituencies, Mr Gowda agreed to a meeting on Tuesday which was attended by Mr Siddaramaiah and other senior leaders of the coalition. It was followed by a joint press conference to demonstrate the unity among the coalition partners.