Will not plead for support with Cong leaders opposed to son's candidature: Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru, Mar 21: Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said Thursday he will not plead for support with those Congress leaders who are against his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy's candidature as coalition candidate from Mandya in the Lok Sabha polls.
Taking a dig at those opposing Nikhil, the Chief Minister said "those who are originally from the Congress have already extended their support and JD(S) workers are efficient to ensure his victory.
He also said his father and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda was yet to decide on contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
"Some leaders in Mandya have gone ahead from the backdoor. It is not necessary for me to talk to them now.
My workers are efficient, instead of trusting those backstabbing, trust those who work honestly. I'm not blaming everyone,"Kumaraswamy said in response to a question about him personally seeking support from Mandya Congress leaders.
"Among the original Congress men, many of them are with us... but there are a few, I know...situation will not come for me to go before them and plead, there is no need of it also," he said.
Kumaraswamy said even now he wanted to tell those leaders that there were no permanent enemies or friends in politics and the Congress had decided to give the seat to the JD(S) in the coalition set up.
"With their own adamant behaviour, if they still want to go away with an intention to take revenge, good, they can work anywhere they want," he added.
The Chief Minister's sharp reaction came a day after several Congress leaders in Mandya extended their support to independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh despite their party denying her a ticket.
The Congress and JD(S), who have been traditional rivals in Mandya, have decided to fight the election together in an alliance this time, and according to the coalition arrangement the seat had gone to the regional party as it had a sitting MP there.
The Congress' move to cede the seat to JD(S) is being vehemently opposed by leaders in Mandya, with a few even expressing openly their support to Sumalatha, widow of actor-politician Ambareesh.
Ambareesh had early won on Congress' ticket from the constituency.
It is a high stake battle for Kumaraswamy and JD(S) as Mandya had remained the party bastion for long. The party also won the entire eight assembly segments in the Vokkaliga stronghold during the May 2018 assembly polls.
For the coalition to emerge as a formidable opposition to the BJP and win more number of seats, it is crucial for the Congress to transfer its votes to JD(S), and vice versa, including Mandya.
According to sources, BJP is unlikely to field its candidate from Mandya and may extend support to Sumalatha.
On Deve Gowda contesting the polls, Kumaraswamy said "There is pressure from several leaders on him to contest the polls, but he has not yet decided whether to contest or not.
There is still no clarity in him whether to contest or not.
If he decides to contest he will either contest from Tumkur of Bangalore North," he said.
Kumaraswamy asserted there was no issue or confusion on constituency for the former Prime Minister, but there was pressure from everywhere.
Both his elder brother Revanna and nephew Prajwal wanted Gowda to contest from Hassan as this will be his last election, he said.
"Gowda wished to contest his last election from Hassan, but as he had promised the seat to Prajwal three years ago, he doesn't want to go back on the decision now," he said.
Prajwal Revanna, the other grandson of Deve Gowda has been announced as JD(S)' candidate from Hassan, the family turf of the party patriarch and the seat he has been representing.
The Congress and JD(S) have decided to launch a joint election campaign in the presence of Congress president RahulGandhi on March 31, either near the old airport road or nearNelamangala, by gathering about 5 lakh people, Kumaraswamy said.
Indicating that former Congress Minister Pramod Madhwaraj is likely to be party candidate from Udupi-Chikmangalur Constituency, he said, discussions are on.
After taking Congress leaders into confidence,"We will come to a final decision. We have already asked him (Madhwaraj) to make the preparations."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Cong performed better in Kerala, anti-incumbency trends influenced WB, TN: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the Congress had largely met or exceeded expectations in several States, even as results in some regions reflected shifting voter sentiments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the party accepted the mandate in Assam while performing better than anticipated in Kerala.
He also pointed to possible anti-incumbency trends influencing outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“In Assam, we got the expected result, and we accept the people’s mandate. In Kerala, we have won more seats than expected. We anticipated around 76 to 80, but we have gone up to around 95,” Siddaramaiah said.
In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, there may have been an anti-incumbency trend, and that could have influenced the results, he added.
Siddaramaiah also extended his congratulations to a new political entrant in Tamil Nadu, noting the emergence of a different electoral dynamic in the State.
“I congratulate the new entrant who has achieved success there,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said electoral outcomes in some States had diverged from the party’s internal assessments, reflecting evolving voter expectations.
“We expected a certain trend, but the results have been different. Political reading was wrong in some places,” he said.
“People were looking for change in some States, and that has been reflected in the results,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
Referring to Kerala, he said the Congress-led alliance had benefited from public sentiment.
“There was already an expectation based on local body elections, and people had shown confidence in us. That has translated into a strong result,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
On Tamil Nadu, he acknowledged that the scale of political shift had come as a surprise.
“We expected to secure around 30 to 40 per cent of the vote share, but such a major shift was not anticipated. It shows that voter expectations were different,” he said.
Shivakumar added that electoral outcomes underscored the need for better political assessment in future.
“We have to understand these changes carefully. Political reading cannot go wrong like this,” he said.
