BENGALURU: How well is the Congress-JDS dosti doing? Since they formed the coalition government in the state last year, leaders of both parties have not stopped talking about how strong the bond between the two parties is.
While the bond lasted through all the trials and tribulations that the BJP put them through, it seems to be stretched thin when it comes to the Lok Sabha elections and not even HD Deve Gowda or Rahul Gandhi’s pleas for unity seem to be working.
Though the coalition partners have a pre-poll alliance to take on their common foe BJP, the disagreements at the local level show the disconnect between the state leaders’ bonhomie and ground reality. TNIE did a reality check. Everything seems calm on the surface.
For instance, in Tumakuru, district in-charge minister and Congress leader G Parameshwara has left no stone unturned in campaigning for JDS supremo Deve Gowda. He even shared a stage with arch-rival Sudhakar Lal, former JDS MLA. Lal had defeated Parameshwara in 2013 and yet now both talk of unity.
Dig a little deeper and you will see a contrasting picture. The two Congress biggies of Tumakuru, Kyatsandra Rajanna and SP Muddahanume Gowda, are yet to show up to campaign for Deve Gowda. Muddahanume Gowda even signed up to contest against the former PM before he was convinced to back down.
In Mandya, where CM Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil is battling Sumalatha, wife of late actor-politician Ambareesh, Congress leaders have made it a point to join Nikhil as he crisscrossed Mandya, asking for votes at rallies and road-shows.
Congress’ ‘troubleshooter’ DK Shivakumar has also joined the campaign, but conspicuous in their absence are three former Congress MLAs - Cheluvaraya Swamy, Narendra Swamy and R Bandisiddegowda.
Their absence must have kicked up a minor storm because they were addressed by Shivakumar and when they did not listen to him, were given a dressing down by party leader Siddaramaiah recently.
In Hassan, while the local top brass is present to cheer and campaign for Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal, trouble seems to be brewing in the lower ranks.
In Bangalore Rural, JDS MLA Anitha Kumaraswamy is playing her part by campaigning for Congress candidate DK Suresh when he visited Ramanagaram on Tuesday. At the same time, Kumaraswamy was out campaigning for Congress leader Eshwar Khandre in Bidar.
Elsewhere in Bijapur or Uttara Kannada, JDS candidates have been left to fend for themselves.
When asked about the sulking leaders of Mandya and Tumakuru, state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “We are campaigning together for 90% of the time but in the remaining 10% there are problems and we are working them out.”
In order to send out a strong message, Gundu Rao said, “From April 5, both Gowda and Siddaramaiah will campaign together across Karnataka.”