Karnataka seat-sharing deal: Deve Gowda urges Rahul to cool 'resentment' of Congress MLAs

BENGALURU: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Friday requested Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to cool the reported resentment of some party MLAs over the coalition government's seat-sharing arrangment to avoid political acrimony ahead of the coming Lok Sabha elections.


Gowda also said that he had not made up his mind on contesting from North Bengaluru.

"I am totally satisfied with the seat-sharing arrangement between our party and the Congress. We had demanded 10 seats, but got eight, considering that Congress is a major party."

"All said and done, I do not want to create any political tension between our parties. I told Rahul Gandhi to move ahead with whatever seat-sharing arrangments we have arrived at. There is hardly any time left for us. Our main aim is to defeat the BJP," he told PTI in atelephonic interview from Arunachal Pradesh.

The coalition partners on Wednesday had announced that the JD(S) would contest from eight Lok Sabha constituencies and Congress from remaining 20 constituencies in Karnataka.

The announcement has reportedly sparked resentment among some Congress leaders, who have demanded cancellation of the seat-sharing arrangement on the grounds it was impractical and detrimental to the coalition's electoral prospects.

Gowda said the coalition partners would overcome these 'minor hiccups' on or before the March 19 coordination committee meeting and hoped workers of both parties would realise BJP is their main opponent.

The March 19 meeting would be attended by chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, he said.

The meeting would try to find solutions to minor problems, including the resentment in Congress aspirants and later chalkout dates and places of public rallies, Gowda said.

Asked if he was keen on contesting from North Bengaluru, Gowda said, "I have honestly not made up my mind. Last night Dinesh Gundu Rao requested me to fight from North Bengaluru and promised all help in the election."