No truck with Cong. for urban local body elections: Gowda

JD(S) supremo says decision to go it alone will not affect the coalition government

Karnataka, Bengaluru - 01/09/2015: Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, addressing the press conference, at the party office, before discussing issues on supporting Congress in the BBMP Mayor election, in Bangalore on September 01, 2015. Photo: K. Murali Kumar.

Coalition partners, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress, will contest the forthcoming polls to urban local bodies independently and both parties have come to an agreement in this regard, JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda said on Sunday.

“There is no scope for any misunderstanding with the Congress over electoral adjustments for the local body elections. The decision to contest independently will not affect the coalition government,” he told presspersons here.

Same decision

He said that the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, who met him on Saturday evening, had also conveyed the same during the discussion.

“It is also going to be difficult to contest together,” he said.

The elections to the urban local bodies, scheduled to be held on August 29, were being seen as the first test for the partners in the seat-sharing adjustment ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

“Both of us have no problems contesting the local body elections separately. The Congress leaders have also said the same.”

According to Mr. Gowda, there should be room for both parties to contest independently. “There has to be coordination in this respect.”

He, however, clarified that there is no confusion about both parties going together for the Lok Sabha polls.

“We have to understand our respective strengths and the parties will have a discussion in New Delhi. State leaders will also be taken into confidence. We will fight the BJP together.”

The three-day national executive meet of the party, likely to be held in the last week of September or first week of October, will also discuss strategies ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, he added.

Booklet to be brought out

Meanwhile, ahead of the local body elections, the JD(S) has decided to bring out a booklet to answer questions over the allegation of North Karnataka being ignored by the coalition government.

“The booklet will also include the contribution of the JD(S) and will also try to remove misconceptions over the government’s role. We will discuss the contributions to North Karnataka in Mr. Kumaraswamy’s Budget and also the Budget presented by (the former Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah,” Mr. Gowda said.

Candidates

While the party candidates for the local body polls will be announced on August 17, he said that the candidates will be asked to take up door-to-door campaigns during which the booklet will be distributed to voters.

When he was asked if the North Karnataka issue would affect the party’s prospects, he said: “We will place the facts before the voters as to what we did for the region.”