The recent Cauvery water sharing issue with Tamil Nadu has led to much political maneuvering in Karnataka, and leading the pack is Janata Dal (Secular).
Through the imbroglio, JD(S) is trying to make a comeback. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda is well in the limelight and has begun to call the shots.
Ever since the crisis started in late August, the JD(S), and particularly Gowda, have been dealing with the situation rather shrewdly, moving ahead to gain political mileage in the old Mysore districts of Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagara, Hassan, Ramanagar and Tumukuru.
The JD(S), which has been reduced to a regional party in the State, is now confined to the southern part of Karnataka, with mostly Vokkalliga and Muslims as its voter base. Also the party’s hold over the district milk producers union has been overshadowed as the Congress and BJP have made inroads.
The party is now utilising the Cauvery issue as a survival strategy. While cozying up with the ruling Congress in the State, it is also keeping in touch with the BJP.
Gowda, on the one hand, seems to be supporting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and on the other, hobnobbing with the NDA with an eye on the 2018 Assembly polls.
JD(S)’s relationship with the Congress has been patchy. Recently, at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike mayor and deputy mayor elections, the party aligned with the Congress to bag the deputy mayor post.
However, it has been accusing the Congress of meddling in party affairs and dividing it to suit its own gain.
Gowda had raised many an eyebrow by calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently and making regular phone calls to resolve the Cauvery row. His direct contact with Modi had the Karnataka unit of BJP shaken as well. A BJP-JD(S) alliance is not new. They ruled Karnataka in 2008 with a 20:20 experiment — that is, each party holding power for 20 months. This exercise gave the BJP a chance to form its first government in South India.
When the JD(S) did not give the BJP a chance to rule the State, elections was imposed. The BJP, led by BS Yedurappa, came to power on its own with a huge majority. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP got the upper hand, bagging 17 seats. In local bodies elections, the BJP again won a good number of zilla panchyats. Now the JD(S) is at the crossroads — whether to align with the Congress or the NDA.
The steps it takes ahead of Assembly polls will be widely watched.