JOIN USThe survival of the JD(S) hinges on the party winning the upcoming ZP/TP polls, said JD(S) State president H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday.
Addressing leaders during a party meeting, Kumaraswamy said that the JD(S) had suffered many defeats, owing to “internal differences” and “overconfidence”. He said that there was a “conspiracy to finish off the JD(S)”, which would become a reality if the leaders did not stop bickering.
JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda too struck a defeatist note during the meeting. He rued that the plight of the party was such that there were no candidates to contest the byelections to the three Assembly constituencies - Bidar, Hebbal and Devadurga.
Dissident leaders like B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and N Cheluvarayaswamy did not abstain from the meeting.
While Gowda warned the leaders of disciplinary action, Kumaraswamy said the electorate would not vote for the JD(S), if the party failed to reach out to them.
“Forget the difference and work together. I am tired of resolving differences. We can achieve success during the next elections,” said Gowda.
Kumaraswamy urged leaders not to vie for tickets at the last minute.
Gowda announced that the candidate for Devadurga would be Kariamma. She had defected to the JD(S) from the Congress some time back. Kariamma was the Devadurga taluk women’s wing president in the Congress. Candidates for the other two seats would be finalised shortly, he added.
“The party will field candidates chosen by Zameer and Bandeppa Kashempur for Hebbal and Bidar respectively,” he added. He said the party had not been approached by the Jaffer Sharief camp. “Sharief has said that he will go to New Delhi to convince Congress leaders to give his grandson the ticket. Hence, no decision has been taken on this matter.”