‘D.K. Shivakumar has recently met H.D. Kumaraswamy to strike a deal’.
NEW DELHI: As the Congress is trying its best to attain full majority in the upcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka, the party may try to dub the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) as the BJP’s B-team in the minority dominated areas to tap in more minority votes.
Janta Dal Secular spokesperson, Tanveer Ahmed, told The Sunday Guardian, “Congress is trying very hard before the minority community to really paint the JDS as B-team of BJP. We are absolutely no team of anybody. We are neither A-team nor B-team of anybody. We are the team of the people of Karnataka. We are a team for the development of the state.”
He further added, “We are a secular party. We are the only party in the entire country which is secular, which believes in bringing the people together and working for their betterment. However, both the BJP and Congress are trying to comumnalise and sensationalise the elections.”
Sources privy to the developments indicated that D.K. Shivakumar has recently met H.D. Kumaraswamy to strike a deal and prepare an alternative beforehand if the Congress does not get the majority in the 224-seat Assembly. The meeting, according to sources, was held in Telangana.
However, in case of alliance with the JDS, there are high chances that Kumaraswamy will seek to be the CM of the state. Yet, there are rumours about the deal that Shivakumar has offered Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumar cabinet berth in case there is a coalition government.
However, Janta Dal Secular spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed denied any understanding between the two parties and said, “We have absolutely no understanding with Congress or D.K. Shivakumar. We often meet so many people. And so many leaders meet each other. It is normal. And meeting does not mean that there has been understanding or a deal. It is absolutely rubbish news that we have any understanding with any political party.”
A Congress leader in Karnataka said, “There is no question that there will be an alliance with JDS. I don’t understand why some people in political circles are wanting it to be a fractured mandate. Although it’s good that they have believed that BJP has already lost the elections, but they also want that Karnataka should not have a stable government. People want a stable government. And we have the full capacity to give them that.”
The JDS, in the 2018 Assembly elections, got around 3% Muslim votes out of the 13% in the state. However, though the JDS has a “secular” tag, it lost much credibility in that regard after joining hands with the BJP to form a government and going on to become the reason for the saffron party’s rise in the state. Yet, with its ongoing talks with the AIMIM, if the alliance between the two comes into existence, the alliance could take away the Muslim voters from the Congress and play spoilsport for the party. A political analyst said, “It would eventually benefit BJP as AIMIM is popularly known as BJP’s B-team and will cut the anti-BJP votes in the state.”