MYSURU: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has done it again. He has struck an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to forge a new Vokkaliga-Dalit caste equation with hopes of denting Chief minister Siddaramaah’s AHINDA vote bank.
Desperate to return to power after over a decade JD(S) has struck a deal with BSP supermo Mayawati which could disturb Congress’s vote arithmetic, considering BSP’s strong connect with the Dalit community.
The tie-up has bolstered the party’s strength, Gowda said. The BSP which had put up its candidate in 173 seats in the previous election had fared well in a few constituencies, including Kollegal, securing 37,000 votes. Party candidates polled more than 10,000 votes in 5 seats and more than 5,000 votes in 8 seats. The party secured a total of 2.6 lakh votes in the 2008 assembly polls and around 2.8 lakh votes in the 2013 polls.