Leaders may shake on it, but not the loyalists

The JD(S) and Congress leaders may be desperately trying to form the government in the state, but this new-found bonhomie is yet to trickle down to the grassroot-level workers who were pitted against each other till the results were announced. There have been multiple reports of skirmishes between JD(S) and Congress supporters from various parts of the state since Tuesday afternoon, especially in constituencies where they were locked in a direct fight.

In an attempt to reign in workers and get them to bond together, a state wide solidarity march involving both JD (S) and Congress workers are expected to be held this weekend to ensure that there is no more bad blood between them.

“Coalition politics will be limited to Bengaluru and not in Chikkaballapura. Coalition will be limited to forming the government alone and will not matter in other party-related matters. Whatever our leader (HD Kumaraswamy) tells us would be final,” said KP Bache Gowda, JD(S) candidate from Chikkaballapura who came second to Congress candidate K Sudhakar.


According to police sources, clashes between JD(S) and Congress workers were reported in Gauri Bidanur and Inuchina Halli in Chikkaballapura district on Tuesday. In Gauribidanur, Rathinaiah, a Congress leader from the local civic body, had a fight with Khaleel, a local JD (S) leader on Tuesday afternoon in Tipu Nagar. Initially, it began with the issue of taking out a rally in support of the Congress, but soon became a scuffle as more than 30 workers from both camps joined them and police had to resort to mild lathicharge to restore normalcy. In another incident at Inuchinahalli, two faction of Congress and JD(S) workers fought with each other on Tuesday after the results were announced.

Chikkaballapura rural police had to intervene and some of the members were also reportedly detained at the station. Similar reports of tension were also reported from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru where Siddaramaiah suffered a humiliating defeat. Two people reportedly were injured in the clash. “We have already made it clear that the JD (S) and the Congress decided to join hands to protect secularism. An election always has two aspects one the actual campaign and fight before the votes are cast and the next phase comes after the results like it has happened now,” said Tanveer Ahmed, spokesperson, JD (S). Ahmed also added that it would take some time for the message to trickle down to the workers.