Bengaluru: Disappointment is in the air at Janata Dal (Secular) camp as the party was hoping to get Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha Constituency. The Congress-JD(S) alliance partners on Thursday, March 14, finalised a list, according to which the JD(S) would contest from eight segments-Uttara Kannada, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Hassan, Mandya, Bengaluru North and Vijayapura.
However, H D Deve Gowda is insisting on Congress to offer the Mysuru-Kodagu segment to the JD(S). According to sources, Deve Gowda has decided not to contest elections if the Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha Constituency is not given to the JD(S). “The party leaders and workers wanted him to contest from this segment but Siddaramaiah has blocked that,” a JDS source said.
Reportedly, Congress President Rahul Gandhi will meet Deve Gowda on Friday, to discuss the Mysuru-Kodagu issue.
Sources from the JD(S) say that there are chances of Rahul Gandhi letting go off Mysuru, if Deve Gowda refuses to contest in the elections. The JD(S) supremo not contesting the elections over Mysuru-Kodagu issue could mean that the JD(S) party workers across the state may work against Congress.
However, Siddaramaiah who joined the Congress after a bitter feud with H D Deve Gowda in 2006, may not surrender his home turf to his arch rival, the JD(S).
“Siddaramaiah will never give up Mysuru for the JD(S), especially if Deve Gowda has to contest. He would not campaign for the JD(S) in his home district, especially when his whole campaign strategy in the past was against the JD(S). If the high command forces him to give it up, there will be a rebellion in the party,” a Congress source said.
