Exodus of leaders leaves JD(S) floundering in North Karnataka

Dharwad: Notwithstanding the protestations of the leadership of the JD(S) to strengthen the party in North Karnataka ahead of the next assembly elections, the regional outfit appears to be losing ground. Discontentment appears to be rife in the ranks of the party in the region; the manner in which the party is being run has displeased many prominent leaders, who are growing increasingly sceptical about the party’s prospects. Consequently, many of them are leaving the party, with their followers in tow.
Recently, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy headlined the Janata Parva and the JD(S) Mission Workshop, aimed at rejuvenating the party machinery across the state. However, these ambitious initiatives have failed to stem the exodus of popular leaders from the party.
The announcement of the schedule for the byelection to Sindgi and Hangal assembly seats, the former of which the JD(S) had won in 2018, must have galvanised the party machinery in North Karnataka. The regional outfit had won two seats in Vijayapura in 2018 – MC Managuli had triumphed in Sindgi, while Devanand Chouhan had emerged victorious in Nagathan. With the JD(S) still dilly-dallying over its candidate for Sindgi, Managuli’s son Ashok has jumped ship to join the Congress, which has already declared his candidature from the seat. Political observers in the region pointed out that both Managuli and Chouhan’s victories in Vijayapura had more to do with sympathy, than with the strength of the JD(S).
Vijugouda Patil, Bagewadi MLA Shivanand Patil’s brother, left the JD(S), unhappy with the high-handed manner in which the former PM’s family ran the party. Son of veteran Congress SV Patil Managuli, Somanagouda Patil, who lost the 2018 assembly election to Bagewadi by a narrow margin on a JD(S) ticket, is slated to join the BJP on Tuesday. The JD(S) is floundering rudderless in the district, as a result.
The party has no visible presence in neighbouring Bagalkot, Belagavi, Haveri and Gadag districts either. Kumaraswamy, who rented a house in Hubballi, which he said would serve as his base while he strengthened the party in North Karnataka, has hardly been seen in the region.
Chairman of the legislative council Basavaraj Horatti, a seven-time MLC who has turned the West Teachers’ segment into his citadel, was the party’s most prominent face in North Karnataka. However, observers pointed out that his success in the hustings was owing to his stature as a leading figure among his teaching brethren. He joined the JD(S) to secure a cabinet berth, and had stayed with the party till he was elevated as the Chairman of Legislative Council. Former Navalgund MLA NH Konaraddi, meanwhile, resigned as the JD(S) general secretary in the wake of the party’s dismal performance in the recently concluded Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) polls. Senior leaders in the district such as Rajanna Koravi, Sanganamulla, Ramanand Shenoy, Mohan Arkasali, disgruntled with the party top brass, which they accuse of not extending sufficient support, have all quit the regional outfit. In fact, Koravi, who left the JD(S) ahead of the HDMC polls was elected to the civic body’s council on a BJP ticket.