Bengaluru: Did Congress dump JD(S) with four unwanted seats?

Bengaluru: The pact on seat sharing for the coming Lok sabha poll may have been inked between the coalition partners in the state, but the  Janata Dal (S) is believed to be sulking as of the eight constituencies in its kitty, four were reportedly dumped on it by the Congress as it could not find a suitable candidate in these segments to take on the BJP.

The JD(S) has now the onerous task of finding candidates for these four constituencies,  Bengaluru north, Shivamogga, Karwar and Chickamagaluru-Udupi.  As a compromise, the Congress is said to have promised to try and persuade Ms Sumalatha Ambarish, wife of the late actor/politician, M H Ambarish, to contest from Mysuru on its ticket and not as an independent from Mandya as she has been threatening to as this could pave the way for an easier launch for Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son, Nikhil, from the constituency.

With this, the Congress intends to kill two birds with a stone : satisfy its alliance partner in the state, and also former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was keen on retaining Mysuru, his hometown, in the seat sharing arrangement.  He is believed to have now been given the responsibility of persuading Ms Sumalatha to contest on a Congress ticket from Mysuru although minister D K Shivakumar has already made one failed attempt to convince her.  Meanwhile, JD(S) chief Deve Gowda is said to have made up his mind to contest from Tumakuru , and is  hoping to field a powerful Vokkaliga candidate like former Karnataka Chief Justice Gopal Gowda, in Bengaluru north, but hasn't received his consent as yet, going by sources.  He has reportedly also sounded  out  Tumakuru sitting Congress MP,  Muddu Hanumegowda, who is a former judge too, for Bengaluru north should Justice Gopala Gowda refuse his offer.

But the JD(S) could have an uphill task finding candidates for Karwar and Chikkamagalur-Udupi, as it is as much at sea as the Congress in these constituencies .  Although it reportedly tried to rope in former MP, Jayaprakash Hegde for Chickmagalur-Udupi, he refused to leave the BJP, leaving it scouting for another candidate. In  Karwar, the names of Mr Nivedit Alva and Mr Prashanth Deshpande were floated half- heartedly in Congress circles and now that the ball is in the  JD(S)'s court, it too is considering Mr Deshpande for the constituency, say sources.