Gowda pours cold water on BJP’s hopes for poll tie-up with JD (S) in Karnataka

Former Prime Minister and JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has poured cold water on the BJP’s hopes for a pre-poll alliance with its coalition partner JD (S) during the coming elections to urban local bodies and Legislative Council seats.

Speaking to reporters after chairing a high-level meeting of JD (S) leaders in Bangalore to chalk out the party’s strategy for the elections, scheduled to be held next month, Gowda said the party will not deviate from its ideology and will contest the polls independently.

He said the party will contest the elections to 39 urban local bodies in Karnataka on its own, besides field candidates for all the eleven vacant seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council.

“The understanding with the BJP by a section of MLAs is confined to the Vidhana Soudha (the state secretariat)”, Gowda said adding that party was interested in strengthening its base in the State. The former Prime Minister also announced that he would begin a state-wide tour from June 15 to strengthen the party ahead of the polls to urban local bodies.

Gowda’s firm refusal to enter into a tie-up with the saffron party has proved to be dampener for the BJP leadership, which had been keenly looking forward to fighting the elections in alliance with its coalition partner in the State Government.

The BJP’s hopes had soared sky-high when Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had favoured a pre-poll alliance with the BJP. Kumaraswamy, who was also present at the high-level meeting chaired by Gowda, fell in line with party supremo’s dictat on the issue of tie-up.

But, BJP leaders in Karnataka are still counting on an electoral understanding with the JD (S) for the elections to urban local bodies and the Legislative Council seats.

BJP’s Karnataka unit President D V Sadananda Gowda said the proposal for extending BJP’s tie-up with the JD (S) for the elections to the urban local bodies and legislative council had been informally discussed at an inconclusive meeting of the leaders of the two coalition partners.

Claiming that both the parties stood to gain if the coalition arrangement is extended to electoral purposes, Sadananda Gowda said a final decision on the pre-poll alliance between the two parties will be taken at the next co-ordination committee meeting of the coalition partners.