Karnataka JD(S) says 'no ties with Congress'

Former chief minister and newly-elected president of the state Janata Dal (S) H D Kumaraswamy said today his party would fight the Assembly by-election in Karnataka on its own.

Addressing his maiden press conference after his election as Janata Dal (S) president in Mysore, he said the proposal of an alliance between Janata Dal (S) and Congress party in the state was a closed chapter and party’s national president H D Deve Gowda had made this point clear. “There is no question of any electoral understanding with the Congress,” he said.

By-elections are to be held to eight Assembly constituencies in the state. Kumaraswamy claimed his party was ‘fully prepared’ to face the by-elections on its own. “The workers are enthusiastic about it,” he remarked.

Referring to the victory of the ruling party in the three seats to Legislative Council, he said BJP could win these seats as it had a majority in the respective constituencies. He rejected the BJP claim the victory was a pointer to the forthcoming by-elections to the eight Assembly seats.

The BJP leaders’ statement that the taluk panchayats would be abolished had scared the panchayat members and they had voted for the ruling party in the by-election, he said.

The former Chief Minister came down heavily on the ruling BJP and challenged Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his party leaders to swear in the name of Lord Rama that they had not purchased legislators under the ‘operation Kamala’.

Reacting to the chief minister’s demand that the Opposition parties should apologise to the legislators for saying the BJP had purchased them and they had won the council by-elections with money power, Kumaraswamy made the remark.

The JD(S) president also strongly criticised the BJP for ‘Converting the Hampi Utsav into a party function’. He took objection for inviting BJP national president L K Advani for the Utsava’s inauguration. He rejected the BJP government’s claim over the Bellary thermal power plant and said it had not spent even a paisa on the project.

Kumaraswamy also condemned the reported move of the government to privatise the government-owned Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd.