BENGALURU: The worst fears of Congress old-timers about the consequences of a tie-up with JD(S) seem to be coming true even before the bugle is sounded for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The party is already feeling the tremors with leaders in Mandya and Ramanagara raising a banner of revolt against the move to give up the two seats for JD(S) in the bypoll as part of the impending poll pact.
The bypoll is being held for Mandya, Ballari and Shivamogga Lok Sabha seats and Ramanagara and Jamkhandi Assembly segments on November 3. Congress is likely to put up its candidates in Ballari, Shivamogga and Jamkhandi, leaving Ramanagara and Mandya for JD(S).
The move has triggered a revolt in the district Congress units of Ramanagara and Mandya. A delegation of Mandya Congress unit met AICC general secretary in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka K C Venugopal and demanded to put up a candidate in Ramanagara Assembly segment where JD(S) is set to field Anita Kumaraswamy. Anita is likely to file her nomination on October 11.
The delegation included Congress MLC C M Lingappa, and Iqbal Hussein, who was the Congress candidate in Ramanagara against H D Kumaraswamy in the recent assembly election. Chandrashekar Lingappa, son of C M Lingappa, has already announced his decision to quit Congress and join the BJP.
Hussein too has issued veiled threats of quitting the party and contesting as a rebel if Congress decides to give up the seat to JD(S). “I had polled 69,000 votes in the recent Assembly election. I gave a tough fight. Congress workers and leaders in Ramanagara are opposing the pact with JD(S). We have urged the party high command to take a decision in tune with the mood of the party workers,” Hussein said.
Supporting Hussein’s stand, Lingappa said, “We have conveyed our view. We will decide on the future course of action depending on the decision the party high command will take in the next two or three days.” The local Congress leaders have expressed serious displeasure against District In-charge Minister D K Shivakumar for the pact with JD(S).
Congress is facing serious trouble in Mandya too with former minister Cheluvarayaswamy launching a scathing attack against JD(S) and demanding Congress to put up a candidate. The demand has ignited a verbal duel between Cheluvarayaswamy and C S Puttaraju, the district in-charge minister and senior JD(S) leader. The rebellion has left the Congress leadership embarrassed and Wakf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, a close friend of Cheluvarayaswamy, has offered to mediate to prevent escalation of the discord.
The alliance threatens to end the political career of Cheluvarayaswamy, former MLA H C Balakrishna and others who quit JD(S) and joined Congress during the recent Assembly election. BJP, however, is reportedly wooing them.
The trouble in Congress has raised the apprehensions about the challenge it could face in 2019 elections. JD(S) has staked claim to 10 Lok Sabha seats, which include Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Raichur, Chikkaballapur, Hassan, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Tumakuru and Bengaluru North. Many of these seats are being represented by Congress now and any compromise to please JD(S) could lead to serious consequences, a senior Congress minister said.
“JD(S) does not deserve more than four Lok Sabha seats. Any move to offer more will trigger rebellion within Congress. The pact will erode the base of the grand old party in long run and enable JD(S) to expand its base at Congress’ expense,” political analyst Harish Ramaswamy said.