Give Tumkur to Cong if Gowda not contesting: DyCM

Amid discontent within the local Congress leadership over the ceding of Tumkur constituency to the JD(S), Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara on Friday was seen making a bid to secure the seat back.

But realising that the JD(S) was in no mood to relent, Parameshwara tried a tactical gambit. He said that if the JD(S) refuses to return the seat, then party supremo H D Deve Gowda himself should contest from there. Gowda is yet to announce his decision.

Shocked by the Congress high command’s decision to concede the seat, Parameshwara, accompanied by Tumkur’s sitting MP, S P Muddahanumegowda, rushed to Gowda’s Padmanabhanagar residence late on Thursday.

On Friday morning, he called upon Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and urged him to convince his father to let go of the seat. Before meeting Kumaraswamy, Parameshwara had told reporters that Gowda had bypassed the state leaders and impressed upon Congress president Rahul Gandhi to hand over Tumkur to the JD(S).

“It had been decided in the screening committee that all sitting MPs will be given tickets. However, after the state leaders returned to Bengaluru, Gowda held another round of talks with Rahul Gandhi and secured the Tumkur seat. I will meet the Chief Minister and appeal to him to return the seat. It is not fair to deny Muddahanumegowda the ticket when all the other sitting MPs have been given the ticket,” he had said.

After his meeting with Kumaraswamy, Parameshwara visited senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

“If required, I will meet Rahul Gandhi and convince him. I am confident that we will get back the seat,” he said, after meeting Kharge.

Muddahanumegowda said that he too had requested the JD(S) to hand over the seat to the Congress. “If Deve Gowda contests, there is no issue. It will be a matter of pride for us. If he is not contesting, then the seat should be given back,” he said.

In Mysuru, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah said that he would speak to Rahul and AICC general secretary about the Tumkur dilemma.

On Friday evening, all five Congress legislators in the Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency announced that they would support Gowda’s candidature. RDPR minister Krishna Byre Gowda (Byatarayanapura), Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram), S T Somashekar (Yeshwantpur), Byrathi Suresh (Hebbal), Akhanda Srinivas Murthy (Pulakeshinagar) of the Congress held talks with JD(S) legislators K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), R Manjunatha (Dasarahalli) and Rajya Sabha member Kupendra Reddy.

“If he contests from Bangalore North, we will work for his victory. This was conveyed to the JD(S) leaders as well,” the minister told reporters after the meeting.