Former Indian Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular chief H.D Deve Gowda are organising a large public meeting in Gowda’s family fiefdom Hassan this evening. The famous guest would be his main partner in Karnataka Election 2018 BSP supremo Mayawati. The JDS is gathering around 3-4 lakh people to this meeting in reply to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s last week public meeting in Hassan. Mayawati had shocked the Congress in Karnataka by declaring that his party BSP would Alliance with JDS in the upcoming Assembly elections 2018. If this happens, It would be her first pre-poll tie up in any state since 1996. A rumour is gathering in Karnataka that JDS offered her 20 Assembly seats out of a total 224 seats in the Assembly. A week later Mayawati and JDS supremo- former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda addressed a large joint rally in Bengaluru thundering that together they will end ruling Congress Party.
On the previous week, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said,”JD(S) have to make it clear whether they are the BJP’s B team or not. The Congress president was in the fourth round of campaigning in poll-bound Karnataka, touring the old Mysuru region, where the Vokkaliga community has a substantial appearance.
A senior leader of BSP said “Behenji decided without consulting us. We had to keep quiet. Our bigger enemy is BJP. The JDS is recognised an upper caste party of the landowning people, and it’s going with a Dalit party BSP looks opposite as the two castes view each other with mistrust. Interestingly, even a month after the seat-sharing compromise was announced, the BSP is yet to come out with its candidates’ list.
JD(S) Supremo Deve Gowda said about Mayawati’s Absence that she would attend the next meeting and the alliance is intact. BSP Karnataka unit says that they have no clue about their leader’s next move as all the decisions are taken in Lucknow. Unlike UP, the BSP is not in a position to transfer its votes to alliance partners as it is still an insignificant player in Karnataka politics. There has also been a steady decline in its vote share since 2004. If the alliance survives, it will be a win-win situation for both JDS and BSP. If it collapses or makes no advances, it will be a slight benefit for the ruling Congress.
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