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RS polls set stage for 3-way fight in ’23 assembly polls
“This (Rajya Sabha) election will not make any difference. What comes in 2023 makes a difference,” Shivakumar said.
The Rajya Sabha polls have given an indication of a three-way battle among major political parties – the BJP, Congress and JD(S) - during the 2023 in Karnataka assembly election.
“We are capable of stopping the BJP ourselves,” Congress state president DK Shivakumar said on Friday while ruling out any alliance with the JD(S).
The Congress had fielded a second candidate, Monsoor Ali Khan, to corner the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), widening the rift between all three parties and fuelling the political volatility.
“This (Rajya Sabha) election will not make any difference. What comes in 2023 makes a difference,” Shivakumar said.
The Congress and JD(S) had stitched up an alliance at the last minute after the 2018 assembly election to keep the BJP out but the administration under HD Kumaraswamy turned into one of the most volatile episodes in Karnataka’s political history. The subsequent alliance between the two archrivals in the 2019 Lok Sabha election had ended in a rout of both parties who were left with just one seat each while the BJP bagged a record 25 out of the 28 Parliamentary seats in the state.
Shivakumar said: “The Karnataka people are with the wisdom. they know the current political situation. The BJP has become the most corrupt state (party) of the country. What all is going on in Karnataka, polarisation, racket on corruption, unemployment, 40% corruption... people are fed up in their normal life they are leading. People will throw out this government.”
The JD(S) is the only party to have allied with both the Congress and the BJP for state, national and even local body elections.
Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy-led party have often played “kingmakers”, benefiting the most out of any stalemate, especially a hung assembly. The party claims that it has made difficult choices in the past just to survive the onslaught of the two national parties.
The JD(S) draws its strength from the dominant Vokkaliga community who are found in large numbers mostly in the Old Mysuru region where it is in direct competition with the Congress.
At least three legislators from the JD(S) from this region have expressed their intent to leave the party and join one of the two national parties. The Congress is the likely beneficiary that would help it secure some seats in the region while the BJP continues to rely on inorganic growth in these districts where it has little or no presence at all.
The JD(S) does not find the BJP as a threat in the Old Mysuru region and has teamed up with the party on many occasions to defeat the Congress, who both consider as the common enemy.
Kumaraswamy said: “All these Siddaramaiah used to mislead everyone that JD(S) is the B team of the BJP. But now the entire country knows who the real B team is. With what face can Siddaramaiah now claim to be a secular leader.”
The fight between the two main opposition parties has left them incapable of capitalising on the BJP’s internal problems under chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. The Rajya Sabha polls took some pressure of Bommai who on Friday said he was congratulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the victory.
