BJP-JD(S) talks in Karnataka in final lap, Kumaraswamy may get Chikkaballapur, no clarity on other Gowdas

As the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) enter the final stages of seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections, the speculation in the JD(S) is that party leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will be asked to contest from Chikkaballapur, a seat currently held by the BJP. However, there is no unanimity on the candidature of two other members of the JD(S) first family.

Of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, the JD(S) is likely to get 3-4, according to party sources. While the JD(S) wants Hassan and Mandya, the other likely seats for the party will be Tumkur, Chikkaballapur, or Kolar. BJP leader and former minister K Sudhakar, incidentally, is interested in contesting from Chikkaballapur as well.

Another seat Kumaraswamy is being considered from is Mandya. The former CM, after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda in Delhi on January 17, said there were requests for him from several constituencies to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

JD(S) founder and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda earlier hinted at Kumaraswamy contesting the elections, saying he could be fielded “if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah want him to contest”. With Deve Gowda having retired from electoral politics, Kumaraswamy is the party’s most high-profile face right now and gives the party a good chance to be represented in Parliament. At present, JD(S) has one Lol Sabha MP.

A one-term MP elected from Bengaluru Rural in 2009, Kumaraswamy lost to the Congress’s Veerappa Moily in 2014 from Chikkaballapur. He is currently an MLA from Channapatna in Bengaluru Rural. The JD(S) won 19 Assembly seats in the elections last year, as a Congress surge decimi

The speculation in the party is that three