BENGALURU: The JD(U) faction led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hopes to field 25-30 candidates in Davangere, Ballari, Kalaburagi, Tumakuru, and Chitradurga districts. “We are not compelled to ally with the BJP simply because we have a coalition government with them in Bihar. We never sought their support but the BJP offered it in Bihar. Here (Karnataka), it is different and we will go to polls alone,” said Mahima Patel, JD(U) state chief.
The first list of candidates will be released on April 15, said Patel, who is the son of former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Party leader J H Patel.
The BJP in Karnataka claims to be unperturbed by the JD(U)’s decision. “This is a democracy and our alliance with him (Nitish Kumar) in Bihar is really not in conflict with his decision to contest Karnataka elections alone,” said BJP spokesperson Malavika Avinash, who claimed that such permutations and combinations weren’t unusual in Indian democracy.
When asked if the BJP would view Kumar’s “atmosphere of tension” statement as a indirect message to the Union government, Malavika said, “I do not know what Nitish Kumar was referring to but in Karnataka the atmosphere of tension is very palpable with recent incidents of violence and law and order issues including the Nalapad incident and attack on the Lokayukta.”