Cracks appear in Karnataka’s ruling coalition after polls

Congress leader Siddaramaiah Thursday expressed his displeasure over Karnataka minister GT Deve Gowda’s statement a day earlier saying Janata Dal (Secular) had supported the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in Mysuru. Gowda claimed the JD (S)did not back the ruling coalition’s nominee, Congress’s CH Vijayshankar.

“I, too, am surprised by the statement of GT Deve Gowda. I hope it isn’t true. We will know how true this is on May 23 [when Lok Sabha election results would be declared]. There is no point in thinking about something that is over. Let’s wait and see,” Siddaramaiah tweeted. Siddaramaiah, a former Karnataka chief minister, is the chief of Congress Legislature Party.

Mysuru and Mandya are among state’s 28 Lok Sabha seats that have strained the relations between the ruling coalition partners. CM HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil was up against independent candidate Sumalatha, the widow of late Karnataka Congress leader MH Ambareesh, in Mandya. Polls in Karnataka were held on April 18 and 23.

A purported video clip of rebel Congress leaders from Mandya dining with Sumalatha on Tuesday night worsened the atmosphere of distrust between the two parties. N Cheluvarayaswamy said they were asked to maintain distance from Sumalatha during polls. “We gave our word to [Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao] and Siddaramaiah. It is difficult to maintain distance even after the elections,” he said. Cheluvarayaswamy said Kumaraswamy was made the CM and asked what has he ever done for the coalition. “He has not done anything at all… zero.”

Rao said the party would look into the matter and take action if it is proved that the rebels had acted against the party. Repeated attempts to reach JD(S) leaders for comment went unanswered.