Amid Prajwal row, BJP-JDS alliance likely to continue for Council polls
BENGALURU: Even as a section of BJP leaders feel that the alleged sex scandal involving JDS leader and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna has caused embarrassment to the saffron party, the BJP and JDS are most likely to continue with their alliance for the biennial elections to the Karnataka Legislative Council for six seats to be held on June 3.
State JDS chief and former chief minister, HD Kumaraswamy, has been campaigning for the BJP in some of the constituencies that will go for polling in Karnataka on May 7, indicating that his party’s alliance with the saffron party will continue.
The JDS held the South West Teachers constituency, represented by SL Bhoje Gowda, and the South Teachers seat was won by Marithibbe Gowda. But Marithibbe Gowda resigned and joined the Congress.
The BJP will also find a new face for the South West Graduates seat as Ayanur Manjunath has joined the Congress recently. The saffron party will contest from Bengaluru Graduates seat represented by A Deve Gowda, South East Teachers seat by YA Narayanaswamy, and North East Graduates seat won by Dr Chandrashekhar B Patil.
Of the six seats that will go to the polls, the JDS may seek two and the BJP will contest from the remaining four. But the BJP may try to get another seat additionally because it had sacrificed the Bengaluru Teachers constituency, which it had held, to JDS in the bypolls held in February 2024. But JDS candidate AP Ranganath was defeated by Congress’ Puttanna.
Several BJP leaders, including spokesman Ashwathnarayana Gowda, have confirmed that the BJP-JDS alliance will continue. “But on seat sharing, leaders from both parties will sit together and take a call,” said another spokesperson, MG Mahesh.
The alliance between the two parties for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and zilla and taluk panchayat polls all depends on the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls. “If JDS wins its three seats, including Hassan, the scenario will be different and the alliance will continue,” said a BJP leader.
“The BJP-JDS alliance failed in the Bengaluru Teachers’ council seat bypolls. Let them (BJP-JDS) go with Prajwal’s face. We welcome it if they continue the alliance for the June 3 polls, as it will help the Congress,” remarked KPCC media and communication chief Ramesh Babu, a former MLC.