JD(S) hoping core committee keeps flock together

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: The JD(S) had on Monday announced the setting up of a core committee and while its stated goal is to revive the party’s electoral fortunes, the unspoken aim is to keep its MLAs from leaving.

The party core committee is headed by Chamundeshwari MLA GT Devegowda as president.

Meanwhile, JD(S) Chikkamagaluru district leader YSV Datta was named the convenor. The two leaders are tasked with instilling confidence in JD(S) MLAs so that they don’t leave.

Ironically, GTD mulled joining Congress earlier this year until JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda reached out to him and offered his son a ticket.

Moreover, Datta had joined the Grand Old Party in January but had a falling out with Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar and failed to land the party ticket for Kadur.

He returned to JD(S) fold thereafter. In any case, the party led by the core committee is supposed to undertake a state-wide tour after August 15. The regional outfit finished with a measly 19 seats in the previous Assembly elections down from 37 in the 2018 polls.

One of the main concerns of the party has been poaching of its MLAs, particularly by Congress on multiple occasions, which is euphemistically termed “Operation Hasta”.

Congress led by Shivakumar and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah are reportedly trying to engineer the defection of two-thirds of JD(S) MLAs (at least 13).

This would enable the rebels to claim the party symbol and avoid by-polls. However, JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy has put up a brave face saying they would tide over the attempts.

Congress has a simple majority in the Assembly with 136 seats and has no need of additional MLAs but has decided to pursue this path anyway.

Losing lawmakers since 2017

Something similar had occurred in 2017 when Siddaramaiah during his first term as CM had engineered defections of seven MLAs, moral issues notwithstanding.

Even then Congress had a simple majority and didn’t have a pressing need for more lawmakers in the Lower House. JD(S) also suffered in July 2019 when its lawmakers were poached along with those of the Congress in the infamous “Operation Kamala” which toppled the Kumaraswamy-led coalition government and brought BJP back to power in the state.

When Shivakumar took the reins as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president in March 2020, the party began pursuing Vokkaligas in the Old Mysuru region even more aggressively.

Congress also poached Vokkaliga legislators like Arsikere MLA Shivalinge Gowda and Gubbi MLA SR Srinivas.

Poaching bid a red rag for HDK

These “overtures” have become a bugbear for Kumaraswamy, who has decided to be a bellicose Opposition leader this time around.

He has even spoken of taking a call for his party’s existence on the floor of the Assembly. JD(S) even considered an alliance with the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections of 2024 but Deve Gowda was persuaded to drop the plan after party MLAs expressed concerns that they’d lose the support of Muslim constituents.