BENGALURU: It was three years ago that HD Kumaraswamy became the chief minister under the JD(S)-Congress coalition, but for both his party and family, it has been a battle for survival.
As the HD Deve Gowda family loses its sway in Vokkaliga pockets, with the emergence of fresh faces and inroads by Congress and BJP in parts of Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan and Ramanagara, the regional party seems to be undergoing a churn. It is rumoured that at least one-third of the sitting JD(S) MLAs may shift their loyalties to either Congress or BJP before the 2023 elections. Kumaraswamy plans to revive JD(S) by leveraging Kannada pride and not be overdependent on the Vokkaliga factor.
With both BJP and Congress targeting one another with accusations of corruption and being subservient to larger national forces, JD(S) is considering Kannada pride as a viable plank to mount its 2023 poll challenge.
Over the past three weeks, JD(S) has tried to put the spotlight on Kannada by raising issues like the violent Belagavi border situation with Maharashtra in the winter session and taking to social media on the National Testing Agency conducting the UGC-NET in Hindi. “What we are seeing is a space for us, as a regional party, to establish our position. Let the two parties fight with each other on national issues, but for Karnataka it is only JD(S) which can prove to be the answer to regional concerns. It helps to keep our party alive,” said Kumaraswamy.
He admitted that Kannada pride may very well serve as a poll plank for JD(S). “We will take it to the streets in the election year as neither of the national parties has shown any inclination to highlight the disrespect shown by the Centre to Kannada and issues plaguing Karnataka. This has increased ever since the BJP came to power,” he said.
The bigger concern for JD(S) is to find voices other than Kumaraswamy and his 88-year-old father Deve Gowda, to articulate its position. Kumaraswamy said the party is now focusing on training its leaders to bring the significant agendas in the public forum.
