BANGALORE, Dec 16: Lok Shakti leader Ramakrishna Hegde is inclined to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the forthcoming general elections, through a seat-sharing arrangement that is expected to give a fillip to the BJP's prospects in Karnataka. A formal decision in this regard is expected shortly.According to reliable sources, the BJP top brass would like Hegde's Lok Shakti to help them win as many seats as possible in the parliamentary elections, with a reciprocal offer expected during the next assembly polls. While the BJP sees in Hegde, a charismatic leader who will make good the party's own lack of one in the State, the latter also stands to gain in the event of the BJP coming to power at the Centre in the post-electoral scenario. Moreover, such a tie-up has more or less become inevitable, since prospects of an alliance with the Congress in the State seem to be receding. This, despite the best efforts of Lok Shakti State president Jeevaraj Alva, who, as is well known, would prefer the Congress to the BJP as an electoral ally. It may be recalled that Alva was a BJP MLA for a brief while after he left the Janata Dal in late 1994, before he rejoined Hegde to form Lok Shakti.Clearly the State Congress leadership - led by President Dharam Singh and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Mallikarjun Kharge - is reluctant to ally with the Lok Shakti. They are reportedly of the view that it would be to the benefit of the Congress not to do so. Their expectation is that Lok Shakti candidates will cut into the Janata Dal vote bank thereby benefitting the Congress. Therefore, they see no special benefit in seat adjustments.Yet a section of the Lok Shakti led by Alva, is still hopeful of an alliance with the Congress, whose leader Sitaram Kesri is said to be favourable to the idea. In recent parleys with Congress leaders in Delhi, Alva is known to have lobbied for an electoral arrangement with them, in the forthcoming elections to the Council from the local authorities constituency.Meanwhile when contacted, Alva told The Indian Express here in an interview, that the ``BJP cannot be an untouchable. It has come into the reckoning in the national mainstream and enjoyed the status of the single largest party in the last Lok Sabha.'' Asked about his own previous opposition to the BJP he said, ``I have no complaints against the BJP. Only a little hesitation because of the system in which they work. But I go by the mandate of my leader''. However when compared to the highly casteist politics practised by the JD and its politicians like Gowda, ``we expect some moderation in the BJP. Otherwise each party has its quota of good and bad people'' he said.
