In Karnataka bypolls, Congress-JD(S) coalition cohesion to be put to test

The unity of Karnataka’s incumbent Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance will be put on test on November 3 when bypolls will be held to two assembly and three Lok Sabha seats.

While the BJP had failed to muster majority in the May assembly elections, bringing the coalition to power, the bypoll results — to be announced on November 6 — could impact the prospects of the contenders in the general elections next year.

The assembly seats for which the polls will be held are Ramanagara, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, and Jamakhandi in Bagalkot district, in the Mumbai-Karnataka region. And the Lok Sabha seats going to the polls are Ballari, Mandya and Shivamogga.

The Ramanagara constituency fell vacant after chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, who had contested from two seats, took oath as the legislator from Channapatna.

Congress legislator Siddu Nyamgouda’s death in a road accident in May, days after being elected to the assembly, resulted in the vacancy in the Jamakhandi.

All three Lok Sabha vacancies arose after the incumbents took oath as legislators of the state assembly. BJP leaders B S Yeddyurappa and B Sriramulu had resigned their membership of the Parliament in May just before staking a claim to form government. However, the BJP had walked out of a floor test as it did not have the numbers.

CS Puttaraju of the JD(S), who was the MP from Mandya, is now the minor irrigation minister in the state.

This will be the first test of the ruling coalition as a combined force as it chose to fight the urban local body polls held in August separately, fearing a backlash from party workers over the extension of the alliance to the grassroots level.

Seat-sharing between coalition partners is expected to be difficult considering the fact that the JD(S) is a force only in the southern regions of the state, whereas the Congress has a presence across the state.

Congress leaders are worried about leaving the southern regions, dominated by the Vokkaliga caste, to the JD(S) as it is the party’s direct rival in the southern districts, where the BJP has significantly less influence.

JD(S) national secretary general Danish Ali said it was clear that where the parties had previously won, they would get a chance to field candidates. “So, it is natural that we will field the candidates from Ramanagara and Mandya, where we were the incumbent,” he said.

This would mean that the Congress would get Jamakhandi. On the two other seats, the Ballari and Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituencies, Ali said a decision will be taken based on the likelihood of victory.

State Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao, though, said nothing had been decided yet. “The poll dates have been announced only now. We will now have to sit together and take a call on which party gets which seat,” he said.

Gundu Rao said it was premature to say that the JD(S) would contest the two southern Karnataka seats, but concurred on the aspect of victory prospects to choose the candidates.

Meanwhile, the BJP is confident of retaining both the Shivamogga and Ballari Lok Sabha seats. Shivamogga has been won by members of the Yeddyurappa family in the last two elections. It is a district where former chief minister Yeddyurappa enjoys considerable clout, and it is also home to the Shikaripura constituency, which has been retained in the family for three decades.

The BJP has decided that Yeddyurappa and Sriramulu will remain as MLAs and strengthen the party in the state assembly. It is set to field BY Raghavendra, Yeddyurappa’s elder son who also won the seat in the 2009 general elections, from Shivamogga. However, the party is yet to decide on a candidate for Ballari.

First Published: Oct 06, 2018 22:12 IST