There are no permanent friends or foes in politics. Though the new-found bonhomie between the JD(S) and the BJP ahead of the bypolls is set to continue till the general elections next year, the JD(S) is treading quite cautiously.
The party says its agenda is to defeat the Congress in coming Lok Sabha elections, but it may not become an ally in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance due to political compulsions back home.
“The JD(S) has launched a dharma yuddha against the Congress. Leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, talk of winning at least 20 of the 28 LS seats in Karnataka. We want to restrict that number to five or six,” a senior JD(S) leader told The Sunday Standard.
“The JD(S) welcomes all those who want to trounce the Congress. Our common enemy is Congress and we will not allow it to grow. In 2009 LS polls, the JD(S) and Congress had an internal understanding because of which they won 10 seats. Instead of thanking us, Congress leaders have practiced vengeance politics,” he said.
He said the Congress won Chamarajnagar, Mysore, Gulbarga, Kolar and Chikballapur seats in the last LS elections because of the support extended by the JD(S), which had fielded weak candidates. At that time, JD(S) wanted to teach the BJP a lesson because of which they supported the Congress.
The BJP’s aim is also to root out the Congress, thus the leadership seems to have no objection in continuing the ‘understanding’ till the next LS polls. While campaigning for the Bangalore Rural JD(S) candidate Anitha Kumaraswamy, BJP leader and former deputy chief minister R Ashok said, “The situation now is like the Emergency. All Opposition parties have got together to fight the Congress. The reason this time is the ballooning price rise, for which the Congress at the Centre is solely responsible.”
This alliance, however, has cost both sides a few members, who quit to join the Congress.
BJP leader M Srinivas, a former MP and three-time MLA, joined the Congress.
In Mandya, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah welcomed former JD(S) legislator Kalpana Siddaraju into the party fold.
After joining the Congress, Srinivas said the JD(S)-BJP alliance was forged by senior BJP leaders R Ashoka and Ananth Kumar, who went and pleaded with JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda. “Kumar is trying to ensure support for his candidature for the 2014 general elections,” Srinivas said.
Only time will tell whether this two-pronged strategy of supporting the BJP while distancing itself from the NDA benefits the JD(S) in the long run.