JD(S), BJP unofficially worked together in Mysuru since 2014 polls, claims Kumaraswamy
G.T. Deve Gowda too claims he supported BJP candidate Prathap Simha during 2014, 2019 LS polls
Even though the BJP and the JD(S) firmed up a prepoll alliance in Karnataka a few months ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday said the two parties had been “unofficially” working together in Mysuru for a decade now.
Long before the BJPJD (S) alliance was announced, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s oftrepeated complaint had been that the JD(S) had entered into a “secret pact” with the BJP to defeat the Congress, calling the regional party the “B team” of the BJP.
On Thursday, fielding reporters’ queries on the political chemistry among the workers of the alliance partners ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Kumaraswamy said BJP and JD(S) workers were not coming together for the first time. Workers of the two parties had been working together “unofficially” in Mysuru since 2014, Mr. Kumaraswamy said.
Endorsing Mr. Kumaraswamy’s statement on the “unofficial” tieup between the BJP and the JD(S) in Mysuru, the former Minister and JD(S) leader G.T. Deve Gowda too claimed that he had extended support to
BJP candidate Prathap Simha, a Vokkaliga, during 2014 as well as 2019 Lok Sabha polls. During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Gowda is believed to have extended support to the BJP candidate even though the JD(S) was officially in an alliance with the Congress.
The “secret pact” between the BJP and the JD(S) is believed to have also extended to fielding a weak candidate by either the BJP or the JD(S) in certain constituencies to prevent a division of nonCongress votes. A case in point was the alleged pact between the two parties in the Chamundeshwari constituency in the 2018 Assembly polls from where Mr. Siddaramaiah contested and lost.
The Congress and the JD (S) have been traditional rivals in most parts of Old Mysore region. Party workers had fought pitched battles with each other during polls and the CongressJD (S) tieup during 2019 failed to bring about any understanding between the workers of the two parties on the ground.
It may be mentioned here that BJP and JD(S) leaders, including Mr. Kumaraswamy and BJP’s State unit president B.Y. Vijayendra, participated in a coordination meeting of the two parties in Mysuru on Wednesday.