Karnataka: JD(U) to take final call today

With the BJP unwilling to make any significant concession, the Janata Dal(U) leadership has summoned Karnataka party leaders...

With the BJP unwilling to make any significant concession, the Janata Dal(U) leadership has summoned Karnataka party leaders here on Thursday to take a final call on the issue of seat adjustment. The JD(U) leadership is faced with a difficult choice. Either it has to accept a share far short of its expectation of 20 or go it alone, contest a much larger number of seats and end up marking only a token presence in the polls.

“The talks in Bangalore are over and we would take a considered view tomorrow,” party general secretary Shambhu Sharan Srivastav told The Indian Express on his return from Bangalore on Wednesday. Srivastav, who briefed the JD(U) president on the matter immediately after his return, said all key leaders have been asked to come.

Sources said Karnataka BJP leaders had offered two more seats to the JD(U), taking the total number to eight during the final round of discussions last evening. The BJP team included national general secretary Anatha Kumar, chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa and state president D V Sadanand Gowda.

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“The two new seats offered by the BJP are meaningless,” the sources said, pointing out, “in one, we are supposed to confront H D Revanna, son of H D Deve Gowda, and in another, veteran leader R V Deshpande. We would be a non-starter in both seats.”

The BJP had originally expressed its willingness to leave four constituencies for the JD(U) — Malavalli, Chikkanayakanahalli, Madhugiri and Kudichi. Later, the BJP agreed to part with Kanakpura and Indi as well. This failed to enthuse the JD(U) because both constituencies were considered impossible. The JD(U) instead proposed that the BJP draw a list of the 25 seats which it could spare and let the party pick 20 out of them. The BJP showed no interest in the proposal and upgraded its original offer by two more seats.

Whatever the final outcome, the sense of frustration in the JD(U)-camp here is visible. But there is little the party can do. The prospect of a total elimination in Karnataka stares the JD(U) in the face. And the hard fact is that the BJP, with all its friendly pretensions in New Delhi, is actually setting the stage for it.