JD(S) Seeks To Regain Muslim Support With Outreach to Former Leaders
According to sources in the party, there are efforts to bring back several former leaders including Iqbal Ansari and Roshan Baig.
Mangaluru: With an eye on the next Assembly elections, the JD(S), now part of the NDA alliance, has begun efforts not only to consolidate its base in traditional strongholds but also to reconnect with minority and backward class leaders who had left the party over the years.
According to sources in the party, there are efforts to bring back several former leaders including Iqbal Ansari and Roshan Baig, both of whom were once prominent faces in the JD(S) before joining the Congress. The exercise is being seen as part of the party’s attempt to regain minority confidence, especially amid perceptions that the JD(S) lost a section of Muslim support after aligning with the BJP-led NDA.
Iqbal Ansari, a strong Muslim leader from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, had represented the Gangawati constituency twice — in 2004 and 2013. He was once considered close to former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and had held significant influence within the party.
Party sources said Kumaraswamy had backed Ansari strongly during the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2004 and ensured his induction into the ministry despite resistance from some quarters within the party. He had also served as party’s working president.
Ansari later left the JD(S) and joined the Congress. Though he briefly returned to the JD(S) ahead of the 2013 Assembly elections, he eventually moved back to the Congress again.
Despite changing political affiliations, Ansari continues to hold influence in the region and remained the Congress candidate in both the 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections. In 2023, he lost to mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy by 8,266 votes.
Roshan Baig too has longstanding roots in the Janata Parivar. He served as Home Minister in the government led by former chief minister JH Patel and was elected MLA seven times twice from Janata Parivar and five times from Congress.
Baig first won from Shivajinagar on a Janata Party ticket in 1985 and later represented the constituency as a Janata Dal candidate in 1994. He joined the Congress and went on to win from Jayamahal in 1999 and 2004, besides securing victories from Shivajinagar in 2008, 2013 and 2018.
Senior JD(S) leaders indicated that the outreach to former minority leaders comes at a time when there is visible dissatisfaction among sections of the Muslim community over developments within the Congress, including the denial of a ticket to the community in the Davangere South bypoll and action taken against some Muslim leaders following the controversy there.
“Many in the Congress are looking for alternatives now. Bringing back leaders like Iqbal Ansari and Roshan Baig could help rebuild minority confidence in the JD(S),” a senior party leader said.
He added that Akhanda Srinivas Murthy who was earlier with JD(S) and later joined Congress too is likely to return to JD(S) and the talks are in the final stage.
Political observers also say the move reflects the JD(S)’s attempt to strike a balance between its alliance with the BJP and the need to retain its traditional support among minorities and backward communities in Karnataka.
