The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are busy finalising candidates for the Teachers’ Constituency elections in June, and selecting candidates for Rajya Sabha seats, but all is quiet in the Janata Dal (Secular) camp.
While party supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda is busy campaigning for party candidates in neighbouring Kerala, State unit president H.D. Kumaraswamy is busy in the production of Jaguar starring his son Nikhil. Mr. Kumaraswamy left for Bulgaria to finalise locations for shooting.
Party sources said Mr. Kumarasamy cannot be politically active for another two months, as he will be abroad for the shooting.
The absence of the two top leaders of the party is making partymen uneasy. According to senior leaders in the JD(S), who spoke to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, there was discontent over Mr. Kumaraswamy not taking much interest in the budget session of the Assembly. As a result, JD(S) members often ended being “mute spectators to the furore created by BJP leaders both in Upper and Lower Houses”.
Making matters worse, though several meetings were convened to douse dissidence in the party, discontented leaders such as N. Chaluvarayaswamy, C.N. Balakrishna, Zameer Ahmed, and Iqbal Ansari are growing more distant by the day. Several attempts by Mr. Deve Gowda to quell rebellion have failed.
After commencement of shooting of Jaguar in January, Mr. Kumaraswamy is personally supervising the production, as according to him “it is a bilingual project involving an investment of Rs. 15 crore”.
Though the film was initially planned only in Kannada, due to insistence of Vijayendra Prasad (of Bahubali fame), Mr. Kumaraswamy plans to make the film in Telugu too. This has increased the burden on him. However, party spokesperson Ramesh Babu, said: “As the State president is busy with launching his son’s career, Mr. Gowda will manage party affairs in the intervening period. Mr. Gowda is closely watching every political development.”
