The Janata Dal (Secular) leader and Minister for Higher Education G.T. Deve Gowda kicked up a controversy on Wednesday by admitting that his party workers in a few parts of Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency had voted in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party. JDS Minister GT Deve Gowda was speaking to mediapersons in Mysore when he let slip that he felt there are areas in the Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency where JDS workers may not have voted for the coalition candidate CH Vijayshankar, the Congressman fielded by both parties.

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However, he soon went into a damage control mode by claiming that the JD(S) workers casting their votes in favour of BJP candidate Pratap Simha was restricted to just one village of Udbur in Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency, which is part of Mysuru Lok Sabha segment, and expressed confidence that the alliance candidate C.H. Vijayshankar from Congress will win the elections.

Karnataka Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao criticised Gowda’s statement. “I am not able to figure out how he [Mr Gowda] had worked during the election because he has given contradictory statements,” Rao said. “Such statements are not good for the coalition government. Such things would happen because those given responsibility did not work sincerely. There seems to be lack of sincerity.”

There are 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, and the Congress and JDS are jointly facing the BJP in all these seats. In Mysore, BJP's Pratap Simha has been the sitting MP since 2014, and is seeking re-election.

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