Just as seat-sharing talks are to begin between coalition partners Congress and JD(S) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, party leaders from both sides seem to be talking tough, poised to drive a hard bargain.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said in Mysuru on Tuesday, “We are not beggars. I want to make this clear.” This was in response to a question on whether Congress leaders, during a discussion on sharing of seats in Bengaluru on Monday, had decided to allow JD(S) to contest in seven seats.
If a united front being put up by the Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka is to play a role in national politics, Mr. Kumaraswamy said, the leaders of the two parties should sit together, hold discussions comprehensively and decide on the sharing of seats. Mr Kumarawamy said he would await the outcome of talks between party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda Gowda and the Congress leaders on the issue.
‘No one is a beggar’
Reacting to the comment in Bengaluru, CLP leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that Congress leaders too were not beggars.
Speaking at a Youth Congress Convention at Palace Grounds here, the Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “Neither we nor they are beggars in the coalition arrangement.” The Congress, it is learnt, has decided not to concede constituencies where their candidates were elected to the Parliament in the 2014 general elections.
Of the 28 seats, the Congress MPs represent 10 constituencies, while the JD(S) represents two.
KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao said party leaders would hold talks with Mr. Deve Gowda on Wednesday. The list of candidates would be announced after finalising seats to be contested between two ruling parties.
The issue of sharing of seats between the two parties is expected to prove tricky, particularly in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Old Mysore region, where most of the JD(S) support base is concentrated.
While a major share of JD(S) seats are expected to come from the Vokkaliga heartland spread across Old Mysore region, the Congress, which also wields substantial electoral influence in the region, will come under pressure from its cadres against ceding much ground to the coalition partner.
Mandya Lok Sabha seat in the Vokkaliga heartland, presently represented by L.R. Shivarame Gowda of the JD(S), is likely to become a bone of contention between both the coalition partners with Sumalatha, the wife of late actor-politician Ambareesh, who was in the Congress, throwing her hat in the ring.
However, leaders of both the parties are hopeful of arriving at a consensus on the issue of seat-sharing even though discussions are likely to be protracted over several rounds.
