Rebel JD(S) legislators want party to align with BJP or Congress

A section of the JD(S) MLAs who have rebelled against the Deve Gowda clan wants the party to align with either the Congress or the BJP in the 2018 Assembly elections.

H C Balakrishna, JD(S) MLA and one-time close associate of the party’s state president H D Kumaraswamy, on Thursday said that at this juncture neither he nor any of the JD(S) legislators would quit the party.

A section of the media on Thursday had reported that Balakrishna, along with party MLAs N Cheluvarayaswamy, MLC Puttanna and Congress MLA C P Yogeshwar would join the BJP.

When contacted, Balakrishna said, “Such rumours are floated by our partymen. At this juncture, neither I nor my party colleagues are going to quit the party. I have no intention of joining the BJP. If I defect, I will lose my seniority and respect. I am so disenchanted with politics that I feel like quitting it.”

Balakrishna said the JD(S), if it fights on its own, has no future in the elections.
The party should go with a national party during the polls. A decision to this effect should be taken by Kumaraswamy, he said. He said that with the support of the Vokkaliga community alone, the party would not be able to win 120 seats required to form the government.

Cheluvarayaswamy, Puttanna and Yogeshwar too denied that they were quitting their parties.
Yogeshwar said, earlier, he was forced to defect owing to circumstances.

“I can’t keep changing parties time and again. It is a fact that I am expecting bigger responsibilities, which I hope will be given by the Congress,” he said.

Cheluvarayaswamy said that he had not held any talks with the BJP.

However, party insiders said talks with the BJP gained steam after B S Yeddyurappa’s return as the BJP state president.

Bargain for tickets

While Cheluvarayaswamy has sought ticket from Rajarajeshwarinagar in the city, Puttanna is bargaining for Govindarajanagar. Both Balakrishna and Yogeshwar are said to have sought BJP tickets from their own constituencies Magadi and Channapatna, respectively.

Speaking to reporters in Ramanagaram, Kumaraswamy rubbished the ‘Operation Lotus’ rumours. “Nobody from my party is quitting,” he said.