Political Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Mar 25: The recent visit of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to Mysuru region witnessed sensational response to the party. Both Rahul and CM Siddaramaiah managed to attract cheers from crowds throughout their speeches, attacking PM Narendra Modi and his BJP team at the centre more than the state BJP leaders like Yeddyurappa and others. But the massive attack on JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda, his son and former CM Kumaraswamy left many surprised, even those within the party. The party-men did not expect that Rahul and the CM would attack JD(S) so sharply. Some feared it might rub the local voters the wrong way. Even the seven JD(S) MLAs who shifted their loyalty to Congress by joining the party in the presence of Rahul Gandhi were amused.

But Siddaramaiah knew what he was doing. He had got a danger signal from JD(S) party sources that since JD(S) has very little chances of crossing even 50 seats this time, it wants to 'help' the BJP in order to become the 'kingmaker' and then the king itself.

Rahul targeted JD(S) saying it was the 'B team' of BJP, and that from Janata Dal (Secular), it had gone on to become Janata Dal (Sangh Parivar). The CM mocked veteran JD(S) supremo and former PM Deve Gowda that his last desire in life was to make his son Kumaraswamy the CM, but his dream would never become a reality as his party would not even reach 25-seat figure in the upcoming elections.

It is gathered from reliable sources that according to intelligence sources, an internal Congress report and the survey done by professional firm C fore, Congress is well ahead in the state with over 45% vote share, and might reach the 125-seat mark. Realising this, JD(S) wants to play the caste card by placing more than 50 candidates in Muslim-dominated constituencies in Karnataka, so that Muslim votes will split between the Congress and the JD(S), thereby helping BJP.

If Muslim parties like SDPI, AIMIM, and MEP put up candidates and if a significant percentage of Muslims vote slips away from Congress to these parties, then BJP may be expected to better than what the survey shows now.

This is the exact reason why the CM is angry with the JD(S). He wants to pass a clear message to people of Mysuru and Hassan where JD(S) looks stronger than BJP in a few constituencies.