BJP and JD(S) workers clashed on Monday at Turuvekere, near Tumakuru, in Karnataka, bringing to light differences existing among cadres of both the Opposition parties over their alliance for the Lok Sabha polls. The incident took place during a coordination meeting held in favour of the alliance’s candidate V Somanna of the BJP, after JD(S) MLA MT Krishnappa blamed Kondajji Vishwanath, a BJP leader who was formerly with the JD(S), for his defeat in the 2018 Assembly polls in Turuvekere. Krishnappa accused Vishwanath of having worked for the BJP candidate. #WATCH | A clash erupted between JDS and BJP workers during a joint coordination meeting in Turuvekere, Tumakuru district yesterday#Karnataka pic.twitter.com/h14D7w0RTJ — ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2024 Alluding to Vishwanath’s proximity to the Congress candidate in Tumkur, SP Muddahanumegowda, Krishnappa also asked the BJP leader not to work for the Congress candidate. As Somanna stood up to speak next, Vishwanath protested in front of him, triggering a clash between workers from the two parties. Somanna, however, succeeded in pacifying the workers from both parties, after which the meeting continued. JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy’s recent statement where he asked whether an alliance was required if his party were to contest only two seats was seen as a sign of strain between the two partners. Eventually, the BJP agreed to cede three seats, Hassan, Mandya and Kolar, to the JD(S). In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP won 25 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, the JD(S) contested eight seats in alliance with the Congress. But owing to differences between local units of the Congress and the JD(S), especially in the old Mysore region, even JD(S) president HD Deve Gowda lost.
