If the Congress does not support Nikhil in Mandya, then the grand old party will have a tough time in Mysuru, said JD (S) leader SR Mahesh. This statement has enraged former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru: The seat-sharing agreement in Karnataka between the Congress and JD(S) is turning out to be a problematic one as not only the workers at the grassroots level but even the top leaders in the state like Siddaramaiah and SR Mahesh are resorting to threatening tactics.
The JD(S) has announced its candidates for three constituencies - Mandya, Hassan and Shivamogga. Out of these, the Congress workers have refused to support the JD(S) candidates in Mandya and Hassan.
The Congress ticket aspirant A Manju from Hassan even quit the party and rejoined the BJP as he did not approve of taking orders from a novice in politics, Prajwal Revanna from the JD(S).
Mandya is not posing any less challenges as the JD(S) is hellbent on fielding chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil, whereas, later actor-politician Ambareesh's wife Sumalatha was denied a ticket from the Congress. This has enraged the Mandya Congress workers, who have declared that they will not support the JD(S) candidate Nikhil, but will support Sumalatha, who announced that she will contest as an independent candidate.
Following this development, tourism minister and JD(S) leader SR Mahesh has warned the Congress of not backing the party candidate in Mysuru if Nikhil is not backed by the Congress in Mandya.
"If Congress opposes Nikhil's candidature from Mandya, then the Congress candidate in Mysuru will have to pay the price," warned Mahesh.
Mahesh had even said that Deve Gowda must be the next Prime Minister, against Siddaramaiah's wish of backing the Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the top post.
Siddaramaiah, enraged by Mahesh's comments, has said that the Congress will go by what Gowda and Kumaraswamy say and will not bother about any statements from any other JD(S) leaders.
"Our alliance (Congress-JDS) is based on trust. But these kinds of comments affect the trust factor. It is not right to speak on the basis of rumours. Both parties should campaign as one force and be true to the alliance rule," said Siddaramaiah.
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