Did proposal of lending Congress candidates to JD(S) come from within the party?

BENGALURU: Even as a majority of Congress leaders and workers are aghast at the “borrow and adopt” tactics of the JD(S) to cover up the regional party’s paucity of candidates, the idea is reported to have been proposed by AICC general secretary Karnataka in-charge KC Venugopal.

Congress insiders say the party, which has not been able to convince angry workers in the Old Mysuru region on the need for coalition politics, will face a fresh salvo of opposition if the new experiment goes through.

The idea is said to have been broached to Gowda during ongoing discussions with Venugopal and other Congress leaders as the former PM was firm on not changing the seats or constituencies sharing matrix. The proposed new arrangement is said to have not gone down well with seniors like former chief minister Siddaramaiah.

At the same time, sources said, Venugopal, who stepped into the shoes of Ashok Gehlot as AICC general secretary (organisation), is preoccupied with the selection of candidates for all states and has hardly had any time for Karnataka. The implications of the arrangements would not have sunk in immediately, they said.

Sources say one reason Gowda has been adamant on not giving up seats is because of an Election Commission’s rule which states that in order for a political party to be recognised as a national party, it has to win 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states in the latest general elections, or should have polled 6% of the total valid votes in at least four states in a Lok Sabha or assembly election. The JD(S) has been recognised as a state party in Karnataka and Kerala. As of now, the JD(S) will contest in Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh.

A senior Congress leader said prior to the announcement of the poll calendar, the Congress-JD(S) alliance and the BJP appeared equally poised. “Now, with the Congress coming up as a poor bargainer by giving up seats where it has chances of winning, the party has lost even before the race has begun,” the leader said.