Bengaluru: Leaders of the Congress and JD(S), partners in the coalition government, may have united at the state level but party workers are yet to reconcile to the fact that they have to rub shoulders at the grassroots. This is the picture which has emerged in Mandya district where arch rivals Congress and JD(S) workers are still at loggerheads after the latter won all seven seats in the assembly polls.
The proposal for a pre-poll alliance between Congress and JD(S) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls has come as a shocker for hardcore Congress leaders who have been fighting against their arch rival, JD(S), in all previous elections. The BJP has till now been unable to secure a foothold in the district.
“We have heard about it (pre-poll alliance with the JD-S) but no official announcement has been made yet. The Congress leaders and workers have not come out of the shock after losing all seven seats in the assembly polls. They may take some time to reconcile to the loss. Still, 11 months are left for the Lok Sabha polls and many things may change before that,” former minister and senior Congress leader M.S. Atmananda told Deccan Chronicle. He said JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda is the tallest leader among Vokkaligas in the district with Mr C.S. Puttaraju of the JD(S) winning against the Congress nominee, Ramya aka Divya Spandana by over 5,000 votes. This time, rumours are doing the rounds that former minister M.H. Ambarish is likely to contest on a JD(S) ticket in the LS polls from Mandya. "We still don't know how many seats will go to the JD(S) in case of an alliance with the Congress. A clear picture may emerge in two to three months,” he noted.
There are many party workers who are unhappy with the 'game' being played by their masters in the state capital. G Mahesh Gowda, an office-bearer of Maddur Taluk Congress unit said during the recent Assembly polls Congress workers fought against the JD(S) candidate, Mr D.C. Thammanna. "You know what happened later. The two parties forgot everything and formed a coalition government in the name of secularism. Now, they are talking of a pre-poll alliance in the coming LS polls and planning to 'gift' the Mandya LS seat to JD(S). How will we face voters? Should we campaign for a JD(S) candidate, a party we fought in all previous elections? Our party will become non existent if we surrender before JD(S) which is known for its ‘use and dump’ policy."
Mr Gowda said it was time state leaders took local leaders into confidence before making major decisions. "If we go on conceding their (JDS) demands, one day our party may cease to exist,” he warned.
Mr Suresh Kumar, an office-bearer of Mandya District Janata Dal (S) unit, wondered why the party should go for a tieup with the Congress after winning all seven assembly seats in the district. The Congress was no longer a party to reckon with in Mandya as all its tall leaders had left. Even Mr Ambarish has been promised a JD(S) ticket to contest from Mandya in the next LS polls. "But we are not sure how our party nominee may fare in Mandya, Nagamangala and Srirangapatna where the defeated Congress candidates (who are former JD(S) legislators) are waiting to take revenge against Deve Gowda and CM H..D Kumaraswamy,” he said sounding as note of caution.
