The JD(S) whose footprint has dwindled over the years, not least because of its blunder of stitching alliances with political opponents like the Congress and now, the BJP, has been reduced to contesting only three to four seats.

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Its strategy this time was to extend support to the saffron party in other constituencies to reduce the strength of the ruling Congress party.

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Much before the Lok Sabha polls, the former prime minister and the JDS supremo H.D.Deve Gowda had fixed up the alliance directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President J.P.Nadda in Delhi. Both the parties also exhibited unanimity on the floor of both the houses of the state legislature during the Budget session. Everyone had expected the poll deal to go ahead .

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Everything seemed to be working well, till the poll dates were announced. During  the meeting with Shah and Modi, the JD(S) leaders led by Deve Gowda and his son and former CM, H.D.Kumaraswamy, had demanded three to four seats -  Mandya, Hassan, Kolar and Chikkaballapur. The central BJP leaders had not agreed even back then.

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But with the State BJP leaders also cold-shouldering  the JDS leaders by not taking them into confidence and not inviting them to public rallies that are addressed by Modi, or holding any kind of parleys with them, Kumaraswamy is said to be furious. In addition, the poaching of the JDS leaders by the BJP in three to four districts has upset the regional party.

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The delay in the announcement of the decision regarding three seats, Mandya, Hassan and Kolar, by the BJP was the final straw for Kumaraswamy who took a dig at the saffron party for dilly-dallying over the seats.

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" We are not asking for six or eight seats. We are asking for three seats. But the state BJP leaders are talking of giving us only two seats. Why should we have an alliance for just two seats? The BJP knows we are capable of winning both Hassan and Mandya seats on our own. We are not here to beg. Don't they realise that the swing that we can engineer of two to three per cent of votes for the BJP will help them in 18 to 20 seats.

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Our decision will be conveyed to the BJP national leaders. We will wait and see what happens. In case of a negative response, the JDS will decide its course of action which includes severing ties with the BJP", Kumaraswamy said without mincing words.

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The JD(S) leader is also said to be upset over  the district BJP leaders trashing the candidature of sitting MP Prajwal Revanna, and saying that the regional party didn't have a presence in many constituencies.  

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Mandya, bone of contention  But the Mandya seat seems to be the main stumbling block between the two parties. While the JD(S) wants the seat to showcase its clout in its Vokkaliga bastion, the BJP has promised a ticket to the sitting MP Sumalatha Ambareesh, well before the BJP-JD(S) deal was struck. She has refused to back down, refusing the offer of another seat by the BJP saying that she didn't want to change her constituency now.

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This has put the BJP leaders in a quandary. She has convened a meeting of her supporters on Wednesday to decide her further course of action.

A clear picture on whether the BJP-JDS alliance will survive, will be clear in the next two to three days, insiders said, but they also pointed out that Kumaraswamy has already signalled that itvwas over, and that he was ready to  contest the election without the support of the saffron party.