Mangaluru: The octogenarian former Prime Minister Hardanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda is preparing for yet another electoral battle. With his party faring none too well in the coastal districts of Karnataka, the JD(S) national chief is not giving up on these districts and hopes to send at least one MLA from each of the 30 districts to make his regional party a pan-state one, not restricted to the Old Mysuru belt. He’s not content being kingmaker.

He was here to rejuvenate the rank and file of the party and also draw up a strategy for a major party convention in the coastal city the second week of February. He visited the families of slain Hindu activist Deepak Rao and Abdul Bashir killed in a retaliatory attack. In a media interaction, he said he doesn’t want to comment on the two big parties which he believes are indirectly behind the recent rousing of communal passions in the coastal districts.

Every party goes to the polls with the aim of coming to power. Kumaraswamy has this conviction. Chief minister Siddaramaiah’s statement that he’s now looking at enough numbers to form a government indicates he’s not the same power he once claimed to be. Regional parties can still hold their own in this clash.

I’ve burnt my fingers having supported the Congress. We’ll go before the people with our policies and programmes and leave the final verdict to the electorate. I won’t get into guessing our numbers. But my aim is to ensure that the party has at least one MLA from each district.

Yes, we’ll contest all 224 assembly constituencies. Our final list should be out by the last week of February. In keeping with our friendship with Left parties, JD(S) will enter into a seat-sharing arrangement with the Left well before the polls. There will be no truck with the SDPI.

Mahadayi, Cauvery and farmers will be the cornerstones. Kumaraswamy has already hinted at a few plans, including farm loan waiver. The final party vision will be very much in the manifesto that our leadership, including party MLA Y S V Datta, have been tasked to work on.