Looks like there is storm brewing in the tea cup between Congress and JD(S) over the allotment of seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. While the JD(S) has demanded 12 seats, Congress’ Siddaramaiah has put his foot down saying the only criteria for seat sharing will be “winnability”.
Bengaluru: Former chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said that “winnablity” will be the sole criterion for seat sharing between the JD(S) and the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha. Siddaramaiah’s statement comes just after the JD(S) sought 12 seats out of 28.
Addressing reporters in Hubbali, Siddaramaiah said that seat sharing cannot be on any ratio as defeating the BJP is the primary goal of parties coming together.
National spokesperson of the JD(S) Tanveer Ahmed said that people enter politics in the hope of emerging victorious. “If winnability is the only criterion, then nobody will ever lose. Politics is not arithmetic but chemistry,” stated Ahmed. Tanveer Ahmed iterated that when two parties join hands, it is understood that votes are transferrable. “We are asking for the 12 seats that we are absolutely sure of winning,” said a confident Tanveer Ahmed.
Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundurao spoke to MyNation regarding the allocation of seats and said, “Ultimately the decision is on who stands a better chance at winning. Can’t really fix a number.” Responding about whether the JD(S) will get more seats than requested for, Dinesh Gundurao said that discussions are ongoing but since the Congress has 10 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, obviously our numbers will be more.”
Top brass of both parties decided to form a pre-poll alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections a week after HD Kumaraswamy won the floor test last year.
The demand for 12 seats is more than the 1:3 ratio applied for allotting ministership and chairmanship of boards, agreed during the formation of the post-poll coalition government.
Confirming the development, former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda said, “I will not intervene at this juncture. However, if need be, I will hold discussions with the Congress’ national leaders in Delhi.”
Both coalition partners have prepared a preliminary list of candidates for each seat, and the winnability of these candidates will be worked out in discussions at the highest level of the leadership of the two parties, Congress leaders said.
However, one can only wonder if this is yet another storm in the tea cup between the two parties and if Siddaramaiah is at the helm of yet another political drama.
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