BENGALURU: All the camaraderie between coalition partners Congress and JD(S) may fizzle out at the grassroots level when 108 urban local bodies (ULBs) will go to polls in Karnataka. The State Election Commission is all set to hold the first phase of elections for 108 ULBs, including three City Corporations before the first week of September. While the JD(S) and Congress are set to put up a united fight against the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, they are likely to remain foes in the ULB polls. An alliance or partnership in the cadre-based grassroots level election, touted to be the trendsetter for Lok Sabha polls, is impending doom for either party according to party insiders.
‘Impossible’ is how a Congress leader chose to describe the possibility of convincing local leaders to work with JD(S) for the ULB polls, especially in the Old Mysuru region where both parties have a strong foothold. “Local issues, personal rivalries, caste equations, community decisions take centre stage at ULB polls. Leaders may want an alliance at the state level because of national interest but these things don’t matter at the grassroots level,” the Congress leader said. The fact that these elections are fought more on a personal than political basis makes it challenging for the parties to go at it together.
Congress party insiders believe that more they force their grassroots level leaders to work with JD(S), more they run the risk of losing cadres to the BJP- yet again, in the Old Mysuru region where the saffron party is slowly gaining momentum. “Not just will our workers and local leaders leave the party, they will join other parties, contest independently, sabotage our interests plus take away a chunk of our cadres,” a KPCC office bearer warned.
The office-bearers of the KPCC and presidents of district Congress committee have been called for a meeting under the leadership of KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao on Saturday. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and working president Easwar Khandre are expected to be part of the meeting where issues pertaining to ULB polls will also be discussed. “In the past, despite alliances, we have always contested on our own in ULB elections. We have traditionally fought separately. While we will fight Parliament elections together, no decision has been taken about ULB polls yet,” Dinesh Gundu Rao told The New Indian Express.
The JD(S) too is yet to make up its mind. The party is waiting for a nod from its district leaders. “We will take feedback from our district units and take a call on alliances for ULBs. No discussions have begun yet on the matter,” said Kunwar Danish Ali, National Secretary General, JD(S). While some in the Congress party believe that the ULB polls may get postponed to a later date, others are confident that no matter when the elections are held, the possibility of JD(S) and Congress coming together is grim.
The discussion on how to go about the urban local body polls without disturbing its grassroots level cadre base will begin, for both parties, post appointments to boards and corporations, cabinet expansion and appointment of district in-charge ministers.