Daijiworld Media Network - Mysuru (SP)

Mysuru, May 2: The claim made by the district-in-charge minister and JD(S) leader here, that JD(S) party workers in his Chamundeshwari assembly constituency here had got votes diverted to BJP, has given rise to turmoil within the coalition partners.

Speaking to media persons on Wednesday May 1, Deve Gowda said that because of the problems of mutual understanding between the coalition parties, Congress workers got votes for their candidates, whereas JD(S) workers got votes cast for the BJP. This statement came as a surprise for many. He explained that having struck an understanding for polls, the two parties should have worked together, but it did not happen. "Let alone other constituencies, in our own Mysuru - Kodagu constituency, we did not work as a team. As the two parties had fought tooth and nail in the recent assembly election, workers at the local level could not come to terms with the need to support their opponents. If the two parties had been able to strike good understanding, BJP would have found it hard to bag even five seats," he explained.

Although there had been rumours about the bitterness between the two tradition rivals of the past having seeped into the current election in Mysuru - Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency, the minster's confirmation came as a cause for embarrassment among the leaders of the two parties. It is said that his statement caused consternation in chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, who is recuperating in a resort in Udupi district.

At the same time, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, confessed that the coalition did not work in tandem particularly in Mysuru, Mandya, Kolar and Chitradurga Lok Sabha constituencies. He said in other constituencies the coalition has worked well. He said that if the leaders of both the parties had worked honestly, the coalition would have won 24 to 25 seats.

It is said that after he issued the above statement, Kumaraswamy got in contact with G T Deve Gowda and spoke to him. Deve Gowda thereafter went back from what he had said, and clarified that a minor change of five and ten percent cross voting would have happened. He said he is certain that the coalition candidate will win the election as many BJP voters have turned towards the Congress.