JD-S, BJP dilemma over anti-Congress front in Karnataka

Egging on the two parties is the general perception that the Congress' prospects in the Lok Sabha elections are bleak in view of the various corruption scandals of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the poor state of the economy.



The JD-S and the BJP are however finding it difficult to reach unanimity within on whether there should be a tie-up or an understanding between the two and who among them benefits more in a joint fight against the Congress.

The dilemma is more pronounced in the JD-S, derisively called by other political parties, including the BJP, as the "thande-makkala paksha (father and sons party)".

To the misfortune of the JD-S and to the glee of the Congress, the father, JD-S president and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, and the son, the state JD-S chief and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, have been sending conflicting signals on going with the BJP to humble the Congress in the general elections.

Deve Gowda talks of a third front of "secular" and Left parties forming either before or after the Lok Sabha polls as an alternative to replace the fronts led by the Congress and the BJP.

He sees himself playing a major role in national politics again after a short-lived prime ministership in 1996-97.

But Kumaraswamy, though wishing to see his father as prime minister again, seems realistic. He is content with being a major player in the state and is very keen to openly align with the BJP to defeat the Congress.