Advantage BJP, Courtesy JD(S)? Gowda’s ‘Foot Soldiers’ Say ‘NaMo’, As Fissures With Congress Begin To Erupt

Creating a high sense of discomfiture among the Janata Dal (Secular) leaders, party workers went on a sloganeering spree hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting chaired by cabinet ministers in Mysuru, reports Deccan Herald.

The party workers went awry during a meeting convened by JDS leaders and ministers G T Devegowda and Sa Ra Mahesh to discuss Congress candidate C H Vijayshankar’s campaign. Questions over the party’s alliance with the Congress was the bone of contention.

The animosity within the JDS-Congress combine is palpable as the CM of Karnataka has been accusing Congress for “not doing enough” for his son Nikhil Kumar’s campaign and even scheming to defeat him in Mandya in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Things worsened further when JDS supremo HD Devegowda, after the stormy meeting, told reporters that,”JD(S) should not be held responsible if Vijayashankar loses. We have convinced our party workers, but differences remain. We will do our duty. When H Vishwanath lost, Siddaramaiah was the CM. Was he held responsible? Likewise, how can we be held responsible?”.

Siddaramaiah, after a shocking defeat in Chamundeshwari constituency in the Karnataka Assembly elections last year, is seeking to regain lost ground in Mysuru by anointing his close aide, C H Vijayshankar, as Congress candidate for the Mysuru-Kodagu MP seat.