Decision to give Tumkur to JDS will not reduce Cong's hold in seat: Deputy CM Parameshwara
Tumkur, Apr 14: Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has said the Congress' decision to cede the Tumkur Lok Sabha seat to coalition partner JDS will not reduce the party's hold in the constituency and that their ultimate goal is to see Rahul Gandhi becoming prime minister.
Former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda will take on former parliamentarian G S Basavaraj in Tumkur, which has changed hands between the Congress and the BJP in the past.
"The decision to allot the Tumkur constituency to Deve Gowda will not cut down the Congress' hold there. Our ultimate goal is to see Rahul Gandhi becoming the prime minister of India," Parameshwara told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of an election campaign event at Kolala village here.
Even Deve Gowda has expressed his desire to see Gandhi as prime minister, he added.
"There is a saying in English. It goes something like this - 'one has to accept defeat so that you don't break later' (sic). Therefore, I and my party decided not to field a candidate from Tumkur," he said.
Parameshwara and other local Congress leaders were earlier upset over the seat being denied to sitting MP Muddahanumegowda.
The deputy chief minister had to take a lot of heat from the Tumkur District Congress Committee for his inability to keep the seat for the party, while chairman of the coordination committee Siddaramaiah was successful in denying the Mysuru seat to the JDS despite pressure by the coalition partner.
Muddahanumegowda acknowledged that there was quite a ripple initially when the seat was given to the JDS, but after meeting Gandhi and the central leadership, he withdrew his nomination as an independent candidate.
"I met Rahul Gandhi and other leaders in Delhi. Gandhi told me to withdraw my nomination as a rebel candidate from Tumkur constituency. The scion told me 'you have to do that for India and its security and well being'. I immediately decided to withdraw and started helping Deve Gowda," he said.
The joint campaign trail of the coalition partners has witnessed tremendous response from people, Muddahanumegowda said.
"Having 30 years of political experience, I personally feel we are going to win this seat easily because the failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has percolated down to common people and villagers," he added.
The political pundits, however, say there's a tough battle on the cards for Deve Gowda as he is contesting from a Congress bastion amid disquiet in both his party and ally Congress over allocation of seats and tickets.
They, however, do acknowledge the former prime minister's potential to bounce back as he did by winning the Kanakapura by-election in 2002, after he had lost to G Puttaswamy Gowda of the Congress in 1999 from Hassan.
Candidates of the Congress and the BJP have won ten and four times from the same constituency. It was a Congress stronghold from 1952 to 1989, till the party lost ground to the BJP.
G S Basavaraj is the BJP candidate. He won the seat thrice on a Congress ticket and once as a BJP nominee. He was defeated by Muddahanumegowda in 2014 elections.
The Vokkaliga leader has fielded his grandsons Nikhil K and Prajwal Revanna from Mandya and Hassan respectively. This has apparently left some of the senior JDS leaders, who were hopeful of getting tickets, unhappy.
Tumkur district comes under the Old Mysore region. The JDS has not won an MP seat from there, but C N Bhaskarappa had won in 1996 as undivided Janata Dal candidate.
Tumkur constituency, a dryland region, is spread over 6,706 sq.km. It had 15,94,703 registered voters - 7,97,512 males and 7,97,191 females - till January 2019.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
