MYSURU: With the Congress and the JD(S) agreeing to form an alliance in Karnataka for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, former chief minister Siddaramaiah is keen on protecting the interests of his supporters. The JD(S) which won a majority of seats in Old Mysuru region, particularly in the Vokkaliga belt, in the recent assembly elections, is firm on contesting 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state including Mandya, Hassan, Mysuru-Kodagu and Tumkuru. But Siddaramaiah may throw his weight behind a few Congress ticket aspirants in Mysuru-Kodagu and Mandya constituencies.
The Congress is favour of fielding former MP C H Vijayashankar who joined the party ahead of the assembly elections. He did not bargain for any position as he has had an eye on the Mysuru-Kodagu seat which he had own twice on BJP ticket before being snubbed by the saffron party.If the Congress cannot accommodate backward communities in Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha seat, it would be difficult to do so elsewhere in the region which is dominated by Vokkaligas or Veeerashaivas.
This has made Siddaramaiah prevail upon the leadership of both the Congress and the JD(S) to accommodate his supporter Vijayashankar to take on BJP’s sitting MP Pratap Simha, who has already launched campaign seeking re-election from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency. The JD(S) that could not win the seat in the past has evinced interest in it as the party has three sitting MLAs from the areas falling under the Lok Sabha constituency and did well in others too.