Minister for Agriculture N. Cheluvarayaswamy on Wednesday said the JD(S) has no freedom to announce its candidates for Hassan and Mandya seats and added that the party has been forced to wait for its alliance partner BJP to give clearance to announce its candidates.
“Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has already expressed his feelings on the alliance with the BJP. People have observed that he (Mr. Kumaraswamy) is not satisfied with the alliance considering the developments, with the JD(S) not invited to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies and delay in finalising the seats. At this time, Mr. Kumaraswamy must recall how the Congress behaved with the regional party when it had an alliance with it,” he told reporters in Mandya.
The Minister said he was not keen to talk about the JD(S) alliance since it is its internal matter. “How BJP is treating the JD(S) and how the Congress treated the JD(S) needs to be analysed by the party leaders. Mr. Kumaraswamy has himself spoken on whether the present efforts were needed for just two seats under the alliance. He always criticised the Congress and his party’s alliance with it. He should think it over,” said Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy, Minister in charge of Mandya district.
Referring to the contest of noted cardiologist C.N. Manjunath as the BJP candidate for Bengaluru rural seat, he said the decision itself shows the JD(S) lacks confidence ahead of the polls as Dr. Manjunath was fighting the polls on the BJP symbol despite being a member of the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s family.
“The Congress, under the seat-sharing arrangement, gave seven seats to the JD(S). Now, Mr. Kumaraswamy is struggling to get two seats from the BJP,” he argued.
Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy said the ticket allotment in the BJP has led to a rift within the party and the denial of ticket to Vokkaligas is expected to affect the party. He cited the example of sitting MPs D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Pratap Simha, who have been denied ticket. There has been disorder in the BJP, he claimed.
