Janata Dal Secular a broken house as Rajya Sabha election exposes cracks within party
India Today
The Rajya Sabha election has exposed cracks within the JDS in Karnataka.
The ongoing Rajya Sabha election has turned out to be a crisis for Janata Dal Secular (JDS) in Karnataka. The cracks within the party were evidently visible during the candidate selection.
According to sources, HD Devegowda and HD Kumaraswamy had zeroed in on sitting MLC BM Farooq to be their candidate. However, HD Revanna and JDS state president CM Ibrahim backed Kupendra Reddy and promised the party that they would handle both BJP and Congress to not put up a candidate.
A top source present at the meeting said, " There was a heated argument during the discussion about candidates. It was attended by Kumaraswamy, Revanna, Ibrahim, Devegowda and 4 JDS MLAs. Revanna fought hard, saying it was his responsibility to make Kupendra Reddy win. CM Ibrahim too backed Kupendra Reddy because of some internal compulsion. But Kumaraswamy and Devegowda felt that by making a minority candidate contest, Congress would agree not to field a second candidate."
Karnataka Congress has fielded Mansoor Ali Khan as its second candidate for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections in the state.
During the meeting, CM Ibrahim vehemently opposed the candidature of BM Farooq, saying we don't need a minority candidate who is a MLC now, what is the need for an MLC to resign and become a Rajya Sabha member, the source said.
The former Prime Minister Devegowda budged to the pressure of Revanna and tried speaking to Congress high command to withdraw their second candidate. However, Congress didn't agree to this request.
Kupendra Reddy and HD Revanna assured the party in that meeting that they would manage BJP too. The moment Congress fielded a second candidate, BJP too fielded their third candidate because JDS needed the support of either BJP or Congress to make their candidate win.
