Congress, JD-S Karnataka LS talks hit roadblock

Bengaluru: Talks between coalition partners Congress and JD(S) on  seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls have hit a road block with Mr Deve Gowda’s party insisting on 12 seats and nothing less.

The Congress on the other hand is not willing to give anything more than nine seats of the total 28 in Karnataka to the JD(S). Leaders of both parties decided to have another meeting this week before forwarding the candidates’ list to Congress president Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda for the seal of approval.

What could prove to be an obstacle is the JD(S) demand for seats like Chikballapur and Tumakuru, which were won by Congressmen Veerappa Moily and Muddahanumegowda respectively in 2014.

“We are moving in the right direction," Mr Siddaramaiah said after the coordination committee meeting.

Chief minister H.D.  Kumaraswamy, JD(S) secretary general Danish Ali, KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao attended the meeting. JDS has put forth its demand with a list of candidates to contest for 12 seats.

“We have not given a final shape to it. We will give it in the coming days,” Mr Siddaramaiah said. He added that the leaders were zeroing in on who can win and from where. Discussions have not been completed yet, but there was good progress, he said.

There is pressure from within Congress not to cede too many seats to JD(S), especially the 10 seats where the party has sitting MPs. Sharing of seats from old Mysuru region is expected to be an acid test for both parties, as the JD(S) considers it as its bastion, and the Congress has its sitting members from most of the seats there.