Karnataka Assembly Elections: Survival battle for JDS, will Kumaraswamy again become ‘Kingmaker’?

Bangalore. With elections to the Karnataka Assembly due this year, the question is whether this election will be a battle for political survival for Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) or a regional party with a hung assembly like in 2018. Will once again emerge as a ‘Kingmaker’ (one who plays an important role in bringing a party to power). With the JD(S) grappling with defections, internal rift and the image of a “one family party”, it will be interesting to see how Deve Gowda’s son and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy will lead the party ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Will go

The JD(S) has never formed a government on its own since its formation in 1999, but came to power twice in 2006 with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and in 2018 with the Congress. The party has set an ambitious target of “Mission 123” to form the government on its own. Elections are to be held in the state in May and it needs to win at least 123 seats out of a total of 224 to come to power. Describing itself as the only Kannada party, the party is seeking votes in the name of regional pride.

However, political observers and even within the party have doubts whether it will be able to achieve the target of 123 or not. The party’s best performance so far was in the 2004 assembly elections, in which it won 58 seats. The party had won 40 seats in 2013 and 37 in 2018. Some party leaders expect the JD(S) to come to power or play a key role in government formation.

A JD(S) functionary said on the condition of anonymity, “If such a situation arises, we will definitely press for Kumaranna (Kumaraswamy) to be made the chief minister, but we will Will be more cautious about his selection after the bad experience of BJP and will carefully negotiate seats with his potential alliance partner this time.

The JD(S) has a strong hold in the old Mysuru region and the Congress is also very strong here, but the BJP’s position is weak here. Political analyst at Azim Premji University A.K. Narayan said how strong or weak the JD(S) really is can be decided only after the announcement of the list of candidates, as its survival depends on how many are denied tickets by other parties. Strong candidates join it.

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Tags: Bengaluru News, hd kumaraswamy, karnataka news