MLAs raise doubt over longevity of JD(S)-Congress alliance in Karnataka

Bengaluru: While the way has now been paved for a JD(S)- Congress coalition government, a section of legislators from both parties are not sure it will survive even a year given the differences between the two parties and the BJP’s expected tactics to bring it down.

A senior JD(S) legislator believes there will be a constant threat to the new government from both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president, Amit Shah. “Arm twisting will be the order of the day. So it’s difficult to predict how long this new dispensation under our party chief, H.D. Kumaraswamy will survive,” he said, adding that although it seemed all hunky dory between the Congress and JD(S) for now, this may not last for very long.

“This time around we struggled to secure votes from the Muslims. A case in point is Hassan city where Pritam Gowda won. Although there are nearly 24,000 Muslim votes in the constituency, we received only 800. In several seats, Muslim leaders even returned our money saying they were voting for the Congress,” he admitted. A senior MLA of the Congress believes the alliance may survive only until the Lok Sabha polls next year, as differences could crop up over seat sharing in the Vokkaliga belt. “Of the eight LS seats there (excluding Bengaluru), the Congress has been winning five , Kolar, Tumkuru, Chikkballapur, Chamarajanagar and Bengaluru Rural. This leaves only two seats in this belt, Mandya and Hassan for the JD(S).