In a swift turnaround, the JD(S) broke its alliance with the BJP in Mysuru Zilla Panchayat and joined hands with its coalition partner in the State, the Congress, for the election to the posts of president and vice-president, much against the wishes of some local party leaders and members of the ZP.
Till late evening on Friday, the JD(S) leaders had insisted that the party would continue to ally with the BJP, arguing that the ‘deal’ with the BJP was for five years and could not be broken.
The leaders of the two parties went into a huddle and kept their members together for Saturday’s election. Both Minister in charge of Mysuru G.T. Deve Gowda and Minister for Tourism S.R. Mahesh reiterated that the party would continue its pact with the BJP for the remaining term.
But by late night things changed, purportedly courtesy the ‘diktat’ of the party’s top leadership to ally with the Congress in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The post of the president is reserved for BC-A (Backward Class A) woman and the vice-president for general category.
Parimala Shyam of the JD(S) and Gowramma Somashekar of the Congress were elected unopposed to the president’s and vice-president’s post respectively, as the BJP boycotted the elections accusing the JD(S) of betraying them.
After walking out of the election, the BJP members staged a demonstration outside the ZP auditorium and shouted slogans against the JD(S).
The Congress is the single largest party with 20 seats, while the JD(S) has 18 seats; the BJP has 8 seats, and there is one Independent member.