Janata Dal(S) scouting for 'educated' candidates for city

With the Congress appointing former chief minister S M Krishna as the chairman of the party's election management and coordination committee in the state, the Janata Dal (Secular), in an effort to take on his 'urban-centric' image, is looking for 'well-educated' candidates for the elections.

The JD(S) is of the opinion that Krishna, who initiated a number of infrastructure projects in Bangalore during his reign four years ago, has a strong following in the city.

All these days, the JD(S) was not attaching much importance to Bangalore since the number of assembly seats were 11 in the city. In the recently-dissolved assembly, the JD(S) had just one member from the city.

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda had gone on record that Bangalore is of least importance to his party since the JD(S) was a pro-farmer party with a rural vote bank.

However, following the delimitation of constituencies in Karnataka, the number of constituencies in Bangalore has gone up to 28, which no political party can afford to ignore. JD(S) is no exception. Consequently, it is looking for well-qualified and educated candidates, who can attract the voters in Bangalore.

"We want to win at least 10 assembly segments in Bangalore. We are looking for candidates from multiple backgrounds in an effort to woo the voters. In Bangalore, we have a poor following. We want to turn it around," a senior JD(S) leader, involved in the election preparations, said.

The JD(S) itself is responsible in many ways for its poor rating in the city. The party, which partnered both Congress and BJP, successively to run the government, attached little importance to the city. It ignored the crumbling infrastructure in the city on the ground the government believed in the 'comprehensive development' of the state.

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which had distributed 60,000 residential plots during Krishna's regime, became dormant under the JD(S).

In the last four years, the BDA neither formed a new residential layout nor allotted sites in the city. Meanwhile, real estate prices shot up around the city.

The JD(S) also earned the wrath of the business community, especially the IT sector, which it continued to ignore. Though the JD(S) was in a position to initiate connectivity to the new international airport near Devanahalli, it chose to remain silent.

Krishna recently said that the city had suffered under the JD(S) in the last four years. "He (Krishna) has already started attacking us. Unless we improve the party's image in the city, we will not be in a position to win even a single segment. We are working out ways to identify candidates," the JD(S) leader said.