Sir — Unnerved by the India Today survey, predicting a hung Assembly in Karnataka, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge lost no time to contact former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo Deve Gowda, seeking the support of his party in the event of the survey result coming true.
Kharge minced no words in stating that his party would give support to the JDS in case the latter gains an upper hand in the Assembly poll. Godwa too offered to support the Congress with a rider that no one among the seven who deserted from the JDS to join the Congress should be given ticket to contest the election. Kharge conveyed the conditions laid down by Gowda to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. Ultimately, it was Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s writ that ran large. All the seven defected JDS MlAs got Congress tickets.
It must also be recalled that Gandhi, while addressing a rally at Hassan in the presence of Kharge had called the JDS the ‘B’ team of the BJP. Kharge perhaps did not think it wise to not seek support from a party that happens to be the ‘B’ team of the BJP. Gowda too did not think it wise to reject the request of Kharge when the Congress called JDS the ‘B’ team of the BJP. The message is clear: Mud-slinging between the Congress and the JDS is only for public consumption to fool the voters. For these parties nothing is more important than power.