Troubles seem to be mounting for the Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka after the southern ally, unable to find a 'suitable' candidate, returned the Bangalore North seat to the Congress.
Announcing the move, AICC General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge KC Venugopal thanked the JD(S) on Twitter. "@INCIndia is thankful to Shri H D Deve Gowda ji and the JD(S) for their kind gesture of giving back the Bengaluru North Lok Sabha seat to the Congress. Together, let us reclaim democracy," read his tweet.
The alliance has been facing several roadblocks, with the JD(S) now realising it has no candidates to put up from its share of eight seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The JD(S) had initially demanded 12 of the 28 Lok Sabha. The demand had stunned the state Congress leaders, especially since the Gowda clan is an actual force in only six districts in the old Mysore region.
After deliberations, Congress President Rahul Gandhi ceded eight seats to the JD(S) and the state unit reluctantly agreed to honour the deal.
While getting the seats was easy, the Gowdas now face a crisis. The sub-regional party has no candidates and no organisational structure in five of the eight seats. With the last date to file nominations around the corner, Gowda’s party has approached the Congress and requested it to “loan” candidates to fight on the JD(S) symbol.
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