K’TAKA POLL ACID TEST FOR GOWDA’S JD- S

Bengaluru: The May 12 Karnataka Assembly election is being seen as the battle to stay relevant for former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda- led JD( S), the lone surviving active offshoot of the erstwhile Janata Dal in the state. Many within the party and in political circles feel that the coming election is a testing one for the JD( S) to remain politically relevant as it has been out of power for over 10 years now. They say, besides improving its tally in the Assembly, the JD( S) will have to look for chances to cling on to power. Internal squabbling, tag of father- son and Vokkaligaonly party are the issues the Janata Dal ( Secular) has to immediately address to restore its pan Karnataka image that the erstwhile Janata Dal, which dominated state politics in the 1980s, enjoyed. The JD( S) today has considerable presence in old Mysuru region, where the Vokkaliga community has a dominant presence and is restricted to a few pockets in the rest of the state. Conceding that it is the battle of survival for the JD( S), senior leader and Y. S. V. Datta said his party was trying to cash in on the goodwill of the people.