BENGALURU: Coing by the number of seats it has contested, the Janata Dal (Secular) may not be a big player at the national level after the results are announced. Even the exit polls on Sunday did not predict a good performance for the party. For the JDS, the Lok Sabha elections were mostly about pushing the first family forward, with party supremo HD Deve Gowda himself hoping for a catalyst like role in the formation of the new government post-May 23.
Both his grandsons, Prajwal and Nikhil Kumar, were fielded to open their innings in politics in a manner that they get direct exposure to the Delhi durbar. In the process, the party became a far cry of its older incarnation in which local leaders formed the bulwark.
Even though the party contested only a few seats, the Lok Sabha polls for the JDS was always about the pull of Deve Gowda. Not just in its bastion, the Old Mysore region, but also his networks across national and regional parties, working for an alternative to BJP. If one looks back to 2018, when Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in, several top non-BJP-NDA leaders chose to attend the ceremony precisely because of Deve Gowda and his pan-Indian links.
Going by the exit polls, which are in no way the final results, the JDS may just get restricted to two seats, its national ambitions may also get curtailed. Not that it is a surprising projection, given the way in which the election campaign had panned out for the JDS.
Contrary to general perception, its alliance with the grand old party has not helped it significantly. In Mandya and Hassan, the JDS virtually ended up fighting the Congress while in Tumkur, there was some resistance as well. Even Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy admitted that the alliance did not work in all constituencies.
In Mandya, local Congress leaders were accused of backing actress Sumalatha Ambareesh. This confined the CM to one constituency for the last four days of campaigning. Defeat in any of the three constituencies would have serious repercussions on the JDS’ relations with the Congress.Poor performance in the LS polls will also mean that the JDS will come under severe fire from the BJP. “They may win only three seats, but it will still be a crucial number in the event of a fractured verdict,” said political analyst Prof Muzaffar Assadi.
Deve Gowda has made it clear that he would back Rahul Gandhi for
PM post. Poor performance in the LS polls will also mean that the JDS will come under severe fire from the BJP