BENGALURU: With their party workers refusing to extend cooperation to each other in five seats going to bypolls this month, the leaders of Congress and JD(S) have decided to lead by example. To publicly send a message across to workers and legislators of coalition government alike, Congress legislative party leader Siddaramaiah and JD(S) national President HD Deve Gowda will address a joint press conference on Saturday to mark their show of united strength. This, both party leaders hope, will force workers to set their differences aside and work unitedly for the upcoming bypolls and the Lok Sabha elections in the future.
A senior leader of the Congress and JD(S) will join Siddaramaiah and HD Devegowda on Saturday morning where the duo will appeal to party workers to shed the grassroots level tensions. "Both parties want to convey that if someone like Siddaramaiah and Deve Gowda can bury the hatchet and work together, others have no excuse," said a supporter of Siddaramaiah.
Congress has been facing a harrowing time with workers from Mandya, Shivamogga and Ramanagar where the party has allowed JD(S) to field its candidates. While the biggest resistance to JD(S) is being heard from Mandya and Shivamogga Congress district units, the JD(S) too has been facing a backlash from its own cadres from Ramanagara against its candidate Anita Kumaraswamy.
"We will speak of the issues bothering us after the bypolls but for now we will stand by the party. We will campaign for the JD(S) only as much as it is required. We will protect the party and our workers in the future," former MP N Chaluvaraya Swamy had told reporters earlier this week after a meeting in the KPCC office. The statement clearly expresses the sentiments of workers in seats where the JD(S) and Congress have traditionally been at loggerheads. To address the issue of mistrust and non-cooperation, Siddaramaiah and HD Devegowda have decided to come together to make a display of 'coalition' in its true sense.
The Congress' Shivamogga unit has been fuming over the party giving away its seat to JD(S) despite aspirants from within. Insiders from both parties say that workers at the booth and block levels have refused to work for the coalition candidate helping the BJP gain out of the tiff. Saturday's press conference is a symbolic attempt by both parties that if foes like Siddaramaiah and HD Deve Gowda, who even indulged in personal mud-slinging before the elections, can put the past behind them, all workers should take a leaf out of the same book.