JD(S) upset with BJP announcing candidates for Karnataka Legislative Council polls

Bengaluru: The BJP’s unilateral decision to announce candidates to the three Legislative Council seats, to which elections are scheduled later this year has upset its alliance partner JD(S), with the regional party’s Karnataka president and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy raising the issue with the saffron party’s top brass.

Interacting with reporters in Bengaluru, JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy said, “(H D) Kumaraswamy has discussed this with the national president of the BJP Nitin Nabin and the party’s former president J P Nadda. We are waiting for the BJP’s response.”

The BJP announced its candidates for the three Council seats – Southeast Graduates’ constituency, Northeast Teachers’ constituency and West Graduates’ constituency – in March, reportedly without either consulting or conferring with JD(S) leaders.

At its core committee meeting held on Wednesday, the JD(S) is learnt to have taken a decision to exert pressure on the State government to hold elections to the municipal corporations of the Greater Bengaluru Authority in keeping with the Supreme Court’s orders.

Silver jubilee meets

It was also decided to organise conventions in other parts of the state to mark the party’s silver jubilee, as part of its efforts to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots.