Tumakuru: JDS state unit president H Vishwanath has stirred up a potential storm by announcing that party supremo, former prime minister H D Devegowda will be the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. This statement makes it look like the JDS is ready to disown AICC president Rahul Gandhi as the alliance PM candidate if a fractured verdict emerges in the Lok Sabha elections.
It can be recalled that after the Congress and JDS formed the coalition government in the 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections, they decided to form a pre-poll alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. They even decided to make Rahul Gandhi the face of the alliance and the Prime Ministerial candidate.
Speaking to reporters in Tumakuru, Vishwanath stated that if a coalition government comes to power at the Center, they are ready to elect Gowda as the Prime Minister of the country. “Gowda has a real opportunity to become PM again,” he said.
He also stated that in the Tumakuru Lok Sabha constituency, Gowda will definitely win. “The Congress leaders are supporting Gowda wholeheartedly,” he said.
Vishwanath’s statement may potentially stir up trouble for the JDS with the Congress party, considering that the alliance already seems to be hanging from a thread.