Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Aug 11: After siding with the opposition in the trust vote, the JD(S) seems to to have realised that it would be better for it to enter into a tie up with the Congress for the assembly by elections and also if possible, for the Lok Sabha elections slated for next year.  JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda, who is in Delhi currently, is understood to have made overtures to the Congress leadership on this issue. Ex chief minister H D Kumaraswami too flew to Delhi on Sunday August 10, to join his father in the deliberations.

It is learnt, that the Congress, which is finding that its foothold in the state has become slippery, too has evinced interest in this partnership. The father-son duo will be meeting Congress leaders including party president Sonia Gandhi on her return from Beijing. The common ground on which the two parties want to work on, is the fact that they are facing a common enemy and that both of them are faced with the scourge of defection.

The immediate task on the hands of both the parties now, is to fight the by;elections for the three Congress and two JD(S) assembly seats that fell vacant after their legislators crossed over to the BJP camp. The five constituencies for which by elections are expected to be announced soon are, Turuvekere in Tumkur district, Doddaballapur in Bangalore rural district, Devadurga in Raichur district, Arabhavi in Belgaum district and Karwar in Uttara Kannada district.

The JD(S) sources say, that the party is interested in contesting from Turuvekere, Doddaballapur and Devadurga seats. The party is also interested in extending this arrangement of convenience, to the Lok Sabha elections later.

Party spokesperson Y S V Dutta expressed the party's readiness to enter into a tie up with Congress although his party is a member of the third front led by Mayawati at the national level. If we come together, we can defeat the communal designs of the BJP without any problem, he said.

The state Congress leaders are reportedly not very keen on striking an understanding with the JD(S) because of the bitter after-taste the earlier coalition had left behind, after it broke down half-way through. Senior leaders of the party D K Shivakumkar and siddaramaiah, sworn enemies of Gowda family, are understandably unhappy about the overtures of the Congress towards the first family of the JD(S).