Leaving former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa out in the cold, the JD(S) and the BJP have worked out a quid pro quo arrangement for the upcoming byelections to the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Council.
A miffed Yeddyurappa, who had suggested an umbrella coalition of Opposition parties to take on the Congress, is now left without options.
The BJP and JD(S) have taken his suggestion and worked out their individual strengths and weaknesses to take on the Congress and more specifically, their common enemy, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
According to the new arrangement, the JD(S) will put up candidates supported by the BJP for the Mandya and Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha bypolls.
The saffron party will take the JD(S) support for the three Legislative Council poll seats from municipal bodies in Mysore-Chamarajanagar, Hubli and Chitradurga.
Sources in both parties said that former chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy and Jagadish Shettar along with former deputy chief minister R Ashok held talks and came to the understanding.
They are also said to have agreed to actively campaign for each other.
A senior BJP leader told Express: “We are not strong in those regions to contest for the Lok Sabha bypolls.’’
The BJP has just one MLA in the eight Assembly constituencies in Bangalore Rural, while it is yet to open its account in Mandya district.
Similarly, the JD(S) feels that their prospects of winning in the Council byelections are not very bright.
These seats fell vacant following resignations of two supporters of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, Mallikarjunappa (Mysore-Chmarajanagar) and Shivaraj Sajjan (Hubli-Dharwad), while another BJP MLC Thippareddy from Chitradurga (presently a Congress MLA) quit the party to join the Congress.
“This is a win-win situation for both,’’ a JD(S) leader said.
The party may be compelled to field former MLA and Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita from Bangalore Rural, if the Congress chooses to go ahead with D K Suresh, brother of former minister D K Shivakumar.
The party feels only a member of the Deve Gowda family can take on the might of the Shivakumar-Suresh combine.
“In such a scenario, it would help the party to garner more support as the BJP has a strong base in Anekal, Bangalore South and in the Rajarajeshwari Assembly segments that come under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat,’’ the JD(S) leader said.
The party is believed to have zeroed in on former MLA C S Puttaraju for the Mandya Lok Sabha seat.