JD(S) keen on SP tie-up to spoil BJP's prospects

The Janata Dal (Secular) is keen on entering into an electoral alliance with the Samajawadi Party (SP) for the state assembly polls to spoil the BJP's prospects.

Though former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has denied having approached the SP, according to highly-placed sources in the JD(S), he has already held discussions with SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The SP is led by former chief minister S Bangarappa in Karnataka. Bangarappa, who belongs to the Ediga community (toddy tappers), has a large following in the central and coastal districts of Shimoga, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Chikmagalur where the BJP is strong.

During the last general elections, Bangarappa had helped the party in securing a significant number of seats from these five districts. Subsequently he quit the BJP to lead the SP in Karnataka. In the absence of Bangarappa, the BJP has been finding the going tough in these districts.

The JD(S), whose vote bank lies in South Karnataka districts, has a very poor presence in five districts dominated by Edigas. "The party plans to strike a balance by asking SP to field candidates in all the assembly constituencies in these five districts. The SP may not win all the seats, but will certainly damage the BJP's prospects," the sources pointed out.

Bangarappa, last week, admitted that the JD(S) was in talks with the SP, on seat sharing issue.