Bengaluru: State JD(S) chief, H D Kumara swamy has a theory : Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah and state BJP chief, B S Yeddyurappa have a secret pact as both are facing resentment from within their own parties, which might upset their political applecarts in case of a hung assembly and no, he does’nt think it is far fetched. Excerpts from an interview :
You promised to announce your candidates’ list six months in advance, but didn’t. Was it a family problem involving Mr Prajwal, who wanted to contest that held up things?
Prajwal is already in politics and he has been given the right responsibilities. If he has to contest the elections, Mr Deve Gowda will decide when and where. He is young and has a long distance to go in politics. About releasing the list of candidates, we have already released the first list and asked the candidates to begin campaigning. I am also campaigning across the state. In some places, the BJP and Congress leaders have a secret pact to help each other. We are waiting for them to make the move.
Do you really feel the BJP and Congress can join hands ?
I did not say that the two parties have joined hands . Their leaders , Siddaramaiah and B S Yeddyurappa have a secret pact. Mr Yeddyurappa is helping Mr Siddaramaiah win Varuna and some other constituencies where Mr Siddaramaiah's supporters are contesting, and Mr Siddaramaiah is helping by ensuring the defeat of Mr Yeddyurappa's opponents in the BJP. After the elections, if no party gets a mandate, the two leaders are likely to join hands by breaking their own parties.
While Mr Siddaramaiah left the JD(S) in search of power, Mr Yeddyurappa broke from the BJP after being asked to step down. I don't know what ideology both leaders can talk of.
Can you substantiate your claims?
Let us start with Varuna constituency. Mr Siddaramaiah was expecting the JD(S) to field a Vokkaliga candidate and the BJP, a Lingayat candidate, so his son Dr Yathindra would win. Since we were serious about winning the constituency, we decided to field an educated Lingayat candidate.
Getting wind of the move, Mr Yeddyurappa's son, Vijayendra was made a ticket aspirant there, and he started visiting Lingayat Mutts and even got a house there. Now, what is the connection between Mr Vijayendra and Mysuru? On what grounds is he contesting there? He can only bank on Lingayat votes and whom will it help?
Mr Vijayendra himself said that Mr Siddaramaiah was standing with folded hands in front of his father and he did not reply. I knew Mr Yeddyurappa had funded Mr Siddaramaiah during his by-election from Chamundesh wari. They may have some spats in the media, but they have a great understanding inside.
But how does this secret pact work?
The reports about Karnataka have from the start been that no one can get a clear mandate. In that case, it would be difficult for both Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Yeddyurappa to come to power. What was the need for Rahul Gandhi to say that the JD(S) was the BJP’s B-team? By asking Mr Gandhi to say that Siddaramaiah destroyed the prospects of old Congress leaders like Kharge, Dr Parameshwar and D K Shivakumar, who will have to think twice before seeking our support. Similarly, BJP national president ,Amit Shah came to Karnataka saying he would work out a strategy. What happened to his strategy and who sabotaged it? Look at the mess created after the BJP announced its first list of candidates. That's what exactly Mr Yeddyurappa wanted. After the election, if no one gets a majority, either Mr Siddaramaiah or Mr Yeddyurappa will break two -third of their legislature party and merge them with the other group and form a fourth force in the state. Only time has to tell.
Is this practically viable?
We have witnessed lot of permutations and combinations in politics. I see chances of the BJP faction breaking and joining hands with the Congress.
So, you agree there could be a hung assembly?
I was just talking about the calculations of my opponents. Even today, I am confident of getting more than 113 seats and don't need support from either the BJP or Congress. I am not going with caste division calculation. I am going with all the communities and people's problems.
