Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Jun 7: “Mysore MP, A H Vishwanath, has repeatedly been insisting that the Congress should never enter into an electoral understanding with the JDS. If he has the courage and guts to do so, he should pass this comment in the presence of his party’s national president, Sonia Gandhi,” challenged JDS spokesperson and MLC, Y S V Datta.

Addressing a press conference organized in the JDS office here on Sunday June 6, Datta objected to Vishwanath’s comments which seem to wrongly convey the message that the JDS is ready to do anything for money, and that entering into any sort of understanding with the JDS in future is impossible. “He should stop making such statements here and there. Let him directly tell this to his party supremo. Only then we can appreciate his courage and conviction,” Datta added.

Datta advised Vishwanath to ponder over reasons for his party’s debacle in the state, and advised him to divert his concentration towards putting his house in order. He also told the MP to behave in a way that befits his position, by stopping his lose talk. “Vishwanath has been drubbed into a position of irrelevance in the state because of his habit of making loose comments. So, the JDS does not have anything to learn from him,” he hit back.

Datta admitted that his party opposed the candidature of B K Hariprasad, and that it was ready to support Jairam Ramesh. He rued the fact that the Congress was not prepared to field Ramesh for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

In the meanwhile, opposition leader in the state assembly, Sidaramaiah, said that talk of any electoral understanding with the JDS is a closed chapter, and that the party is considering fielding of a second candidate. However, party president, R V Deshpande, indicated that hopes of entering into an understanding with the JDS is still alive, by saying that talks are still on with the leaders of that party.