First chinks in JD(S)-Congress govt?
Cong leaders D.K. Shivakumar, his brother Suresh urge JD(S) to withdraw its candidate from RR Nagar.
Bengaluru: The first chinks in the coalition government have appeared with the Congress failing to persuade the Janata Dal (S) to withdraw its candidate from the RR Nagar assembly constituency, where a repoll has been ordered by the Election Commission on May 28.
Congress leader, D.K. Shivakumar and his brother, Bengaluru Rural MP, D.K. Suresh have reportedly repeatedly pleaded with the JD (S) to pull out its candidate considering the big gesture the Congress has made in giving the Chief Minister's post to it despite its 37 seats in the assembly and back their candidate, Munirathna.
But Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has been evasive on the issue and his father, and JD(S) supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda has been touring the constituency campaigning for the party, say sources.
As the RR Nagar constituency has a high percentage of Vokkaliga voters, the JD (S) seems to be working to wrest it from the Congress, they add. "Now that the state has a Vokkaliga Chief Minister, the Vokkaligas of the constituency may think they need to show solidarity with the JD (S) and back it," sources point out.
The Congress now appears worried that the division of votes between it and the JD (S) may help the BJP win from the constituency, working to both their disadvantage. The RR Nagar poll was postponed after the recovery of thousands of voter identity cards from a flat in Jalahalli, throwing up suspicions of attempts to rig the elections from the constituency.