Coalition partners JD (S) and BJP set to fight against each other in by-polls

The friendly relationship between coalition partners JD (S) and BJP in Karnataka has turned sour with both the parties insisting on fielding their own candidate in the crucial December 4 by-polls to Chamundeshwari assembly constituency from where former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be seeking re-election as a Congress candidate.

Though the coalition partners agree on the need to field a joint candidate to take on the formidable electoral might of Siddaramaiah, the leaders have not been able to reach a consensus and are insisting on fielding their own candidate and are prevailing upon the other to support their nominee.

The relationship between the coalition partners has turned so frosty in the run-up to the by-elections that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of the JD (S) and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa of the BJP are not seeing eye to eye. The differences between the coalition partners became apparent when Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa made independent trips to New Delhi recently and called on Federal Ministers separately.

With Yediyurappa firm on fielding a BJP candidate in the by-polls, Kumaraswamy has been talking only to BJP’s Karnataka unit President D V Sadananda Gowda to finalize a common candidate from the JD (S) for the Chamundeshwari by-polls.

The by-polls have turned out be a high-stakes electoral bout for the JD (S), which is facing its first election after Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy assumed power in February this year. The bye-elections have become a prestige issue for not only Kumaraswamy, but also his father and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda with whom Siddaramaiah fell out and joined the Congress.