‘Janata Dal (S) ready to welcome Tanveer Sait’

Whichever party he is in, Sait is respected by the JD(S) as a leader of the minorities, says ex-Minister

March 01, 2021 02:30 am | Updated 02:30 am IST - MYSURU

JD(S) leader S.R. Mahesh at a press conference in Mysuru on Sunday.

JD(S) leader S.R. Mahesh at a press conference in Mysuru on Sunday.

If the Congress dismisses former Minister and Narasimharaja Assembly constituency MLA Tanveer Sait over the rift in the party after the recent mayoral polls in Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), the Janata Dal (Secular) is ready to welcome him, claimed former Minister S.R. Mahesh.

In whichever party he is, Mr. Sait is respected by the JD(S) as a leader of the minorities, Mr. Mahesh said while fielding queries from reporters at a press conference in Mysuru on Sunday on how the party will come to the rescue of the Congress MLA, who is threatened with suspension by his party for ceding the post of Mayor to JD(S).

Mr. Mahesh said all the leaders in the JD(S) including Abdul Aziz, also known as Abdullah, who was the party candidate for Narasimharaja Assembly constituency in the 2018 polls, respected Mr. Sait. When asked if the party will field Mr. Sait in the next elections, Mr. Mahesh said, “Let him come...”.

Mr. Mahesh also acknowledged that Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar had telephoned him before the Mayoral polls and sought an alliance with the JD(S). “He phoned me and asked for an alliance. He also sought the Mayor’s post for the Congress,” he said.

The JD(S) leader singled out former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his utterances against the party for the entire confusion surrounding the Mayoral polls. The JD(S) may even have given the Mayor’s post to the Congress, but Mr. Siddaramaiah’s hurting statements against party had led to such a situation.

The JD(S) had 18 members and one BSP member in the MCC. With one MLA – G.T. Deve Gowda and three MLCs – K.T. Srikante Gowda, Marithibbe Gowda and Sandesh Nagaraj eligible to vote, the party enjoyed a voting strength of 23. But, Mr. Mahesh said the party had won over the support of two independents – K.V. Sridhar and Samiulla – besides M.V. Ramaprasad, taking its voting strength to 26, which was more than the BJP’s 25. The JD(S) was confident of winning the Mayoral polls without the support of any party and hence decided to field its own candidate. But, the plans of the JD(S) were foiled when Mr. G.T. Deve Gowda and Sandesh Nagaraj chose against turning up for the Mayoral polls.

Had it not been for this, there would have been no need for the JD(S) to align with the Congress. The JD(S) had not committed to either BJP or Congress on an alliance till the last moment. When the Congress extended support to our Mayoral candidate, the JD(S) voted in favour of Congress candidate for the Deputy Mayor in a quid pro quo.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.