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HomeIndiaCongress-JD(S) is the villain in the disastrous performance of their alliance in...

Congress-JD(S) is the villain in the disastrous performance of their alliance in Karnataka

Against their expectations of getting between 10-14 seats, the Congress-JD(S) alliance is leading in just two of Karnataka's 28 seats.

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Bengaluru: The Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance, a desperate pact stitched together after the 2018 Karnataka assembly election threw up a hung verdict, may have proved to be both parties’ biggest undoing this Lok Sabha election.

Against their expectations of getting between 10 and 14 seats, the alliance was leading in just two of the state’s 28 seats, according to trends at 4.40 pm Thursday, with the BJP leading in 25. In 2014, the BJP had won 17 seats, with the Congress and the JD(S) getting nine and two, respectively.

The Congress and the JD(S) have been traditional rivals, and the alliance has been difficult for their grassroots workers to accept.


Also read: Election Results Live: CM Chandrababu Naidu trails behind Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh


Much after polling, state minister G.T. Deve Gowda of the JD(S) admitted that workers of the party had canvassed for the BJP and not the Congress in Mysuru.

As senior Congress Muslim leader Roshan Baig lashed out at the state brass after the exit polls predicted a loss for the party Sunday — blaming them for the failure of the alliance with the JD(S) — there was speculation that constituencies such as Bengaluru Central, Mandya and Gulbarga may have faced non-cooperation on the ground from dissenting leaders like him.

‘Things may turn ugly’

Another thing that worked against the coalition was the seat-sharing agreement, which saw the JD(S) asking the Congress to yield some of its strong seats for the party.

Key constituencies such as Tumkuru, Uttara Kannada and Bijapur had to be given up by the Congress in the face of an adamant JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and his family. In Uttara Kannada and Bijapur, which the BJP won in 2014, the Congress believed it had strong candidates that could have given the former a strong fight.

In Tumkuru, the Congress denied a ticket to its incumbent MP because Deve Gowda sought it so his grandson could contest from his traditional seat of Hassan.

As one JD(S) leader told ThePrint just after polling ended, “If we end up getting single-digit seats, things may turn ugly. If the BJP comes to power at the Centre, Operation Kamala will be launched in full force.”

Operation Kamala is the name given to an alleged BJP strategy to get opposition MLAs to defect, which is reportedly how it formed the Karnataka government in 2008.


Also read: Karnataka rebel Roshan Baig, a Congress loyalist who fought first election from Janata Dal


This report reflects the updated seat count.

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